Crimson Waters
by Lady Audentium
Summary: Being a rogue nin and hunting bounties for a living is never an easy life, so when I was thrown a rope in the form of an invitation to join this Akatsuki group I of course accepted. What I didn't realize was that I was going to be forced to put up with a temper mental shark as a partner in the process. Maybe death would have been preferable after all... (KisamexOC) pre-canon.
1. Rain Country: First Impressions

**Alright well here's something that I probably shouldn't be starting but I just couldn't help it because I've recently come up with this idea that I have to get out of my head before it explodes! **

**I am also considering getting a Beta Reader for this story just because I might need some help with Kisame's character as I'm not all that familiar with him and I want to keep him as true to his personality as possible.**

**Warnings for this story include there will be lots of language, as well as violence and some sexual themes later on. This will be your only warning so if you don't go for that kind of thing then you have the wrong story I'm sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only any original characters that I've put into the story.**

**Hope you like it!**

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Again. Once again that bastard had beaten me to a kill. I forcefully ripped out a page of my bingo book that held the identity of a promising prospective pay day. However that complete dick had once again taken the bounty out before I'd even had a chance of getting there before him.

Slamming the small book closed I stood up from the bar stool I was sitting on and stowing it in one of the pouches on my belt I left the dingy place. Despite the fact that I had entered alone, I did not leave alone. I could feel a group of men get up and follow me. Not that I was particularly worried mind you but it was fairly annoying that this happened every single time I let my long blonde hair free from the hood I usually wore it in. walking calmly I began to lead them to the forest just outside of the town I was currently staying in. like the idiots I knew them to be they foolishly followed me.

Once in the tree line I turned to face them and the moment they met my distinctly red gaze I could see the confidence drain from their faces. My scratched Waterfall forehead protector flashed in the dappled light and I was slightly surprised that they were fellow rogue ninja like myself but that currently meant nothing to me other than the fact that you'd think they'd be able to be a little less obvious. Well either way they wouldn't have to worry about it for much longer because after today I was happy to say all their problems would over. Permanently.

"You're not Deidara…" one of them stated fearfully and backed up a step, "You're the Crimson Lightning from the Hidden Waterfall…" I drew an empty sword handle from my hip and with a single command had a blade made out of solidified lightning.

"For that I suppose you earned a quick death." I said with deadly purpose before I rushed the group so quickly none of them could react in time.

Needless to say the battle was so extremely short and one sided it was actually quite sad. After it was over I dug out my bingo book and after a quick flip through it I deduced that none of them were worth anything and with a dramatic flair of my cloak I continued on my way. My blonde hair flowed in the wind as a testament and a challenge to any other to mistake me as someone I was not.

What I failed to realize was there was someone else back in the clearing that had guessed my identity correctly the first time and wasn't finished with me quite yet.

* * *

Setting up camp for the night was as always a chore but just as I sat down to start cooking the rabbits I'd caught earlier I had when I suddenly felt a second presence within my camp. I dropped the rabbits in favor of a kunai and assumed a fighting stance, "I know there's someone there." I called into the darkness. I waited for an answer but after a few minutes the presence faded and after a few more minutes to make sure whoever that was truly gone I sat back down to continue my meal. I didn't let my guard down for the rest of the night until morning there was no telling who that was or what their purpose was or if they would be back later.

* * *

After a very restless night I packed up my meager campsite after making sure there was no sign I'd been there at all the night before then I once again set out. It was only early morning but already it felt like it was going to be another extremely hot day in the Land of Fire. I decided to once again leave my hood off but of course kept the black mask that covered the lower half of my face. Heading north I started to track a bounty that I had been tailing for the better part of a month and hopefully with any luck I would finally beat my competitor to one of my targets before he did.

Hiking my bag higher I set a brisk pace that would hopefully take me a good distance across the country while making sure to keep a good distance between me and Konoha. The last thing I needed was to be caught by a group of ANBU chasing me across the country.

After a few more hours of walking I finally decided that this just wasn't fast enough to get where I wanted to go. Making sure my pack was secure on my back before I jumped into the highest branches of the trees and began jumping. Despite the fact that I didn't typically have the best relationship with my village either in the past or in the current present, I have to admit this feeling was one of the things that made me continue to want to be a ninja. Well that and I liked being able to kick ass whenever I wanted. Although I have to say there were plenty of downsides as well, a specific case being having your Kage falsely accuse you of a crime before demanding your execution as punishment.

I sliced through the next tree trunk that I passed in my anger and listened with satisfaction as it crashed to the ground raising havoc in my wake. Feeling somewhat better I continued on my way before I picked up on a chakra signature a distance ahead of me. Confident that I was still a good distance from the Village Hidden in the Leaves I wasn't really concerned it could be ANBU but nonetheless I prepared myself for battle.

The signature was fast approaching and I concluded that like me, they were using the trees to speed their progress up. I didn't bring any lightning to my handle just yet but I was definitely holding onto it just in case I would need it. Once I got a bit closer I recognized it as the chakra that had visited me that one night. This time I was determined to find out who it was and picked up my pace a little bit lighting up my sword with lightning.

Just like the last time though once I got to the area I felt the chakra it disappeared. I yelled my frustration to the world as I cut down all the trees around me. I didn't like being followed by this unknown person in my life and I really wished that they would either reveal themselves completely or just fuck off entirely. I was getting real tired of this popping in and out of nowhere shit. Anger back, I jumped back into the trees and continued on to my still distant destination.

* * *

Finally on the morning of the second day, I'd finally caught my pay day and I was never so happy to have taken down a bounty than I was at this moment. I released the lightning from my sword and put it away in my pouch while I instead pulled out a containment scroll so I wouldn't have to physically carry the dead body to the outpost where I would be officially collecting my well-earned and deserved money.

Just as I finished the sealing, I felt the presence of two shinobi behind me and approaching at a moderate pace, they obviously weren't in a hurry. Normally I would have ignored them but their chakra gave the distinct impression that they were both formidable ninja. My curiosity over ruled my sense of self-preservation as I decided to wait for these two to approach me. Despite the severe heat, I'd put on my cloak and pulled the hood up which concealed my scratched forehead protector and my blonde hair and when combined with my half-mask left only my red eyes visible.

Coming out of the trees were two men wearing the same black cloaks adorned with red clouds except the men themselves couldn't have been more opposite if they tried. The one on the left was shorter of the two and had silver hair with magenta eyes and a giant red scythe slung over his back. Not to mention the fact that his cloak was open at the front to reveal a nicely muscled chest with a circular pendant with an upside down triangle in the center.

The taller was someone I knew quite well in fact. He wore a modified version of a forehead protector that wrapped around his head and over his ears and held down a white cloth that covered the top and back of his head completely covering him. His eyes were by far the creepiest thing about him though, the sclera part was blood red and his iris was an acid green with no pupil. Unlike his companion, his cloak was done up completely which was something I was grateful for. Upon seeing him I once again switched my scroll for the sword handle. I noticed the white haired one watched me do this and I saw his amusement when I only pulled out a handle rather than a full weapon. I could barely hold back a smirk.

"Ishiyama Tokoryu…" stated the creepy one and I admit I was in fact quite surprised that he knew who I was but I didn't let me faze me for a moment.

"Kakuzu, I supposed I should be honored one such as you knows my name." I mock bowed towards him and he gave a glare that I found pretty unintimidating, "You don't know how long I've waited for this day," lightning flared on my sword, "luck must be on my side for once." I stated and before either of them could do anything more than utter an undignified 'What the _fuck_?' I leapt at my target. No longer would he be stealing any of my bounties.

"Brat, you're one hundred years too young to beat me." He replied before black threads shot out from underneath his cloak. I dodged all of them easily due to my years of studying about this asshole, I thankfully had some connections back in my village that were able to dig up all the information that we'd had on this guy. Apparently he was nearly immortal having been around back when the Senju clan still existed in Konoha and it had been his job to assassinate him and when he returned to the village having failed, they did unspeakable things to him before he killed them all and took their hearts. He then escaped with a forbidden jutsu that had obviously turned him into the monster he was now. All things considered we actually weren't all that different. That still didn't change the fact that I was going to kill him though.

Slashing right and left I was able to cut through the threads racing towards me before I teleported behind him and slashed at his back. He too teleported away just before I made contact and less than a fraction of a second later I felt his presence behind me, twisting as quickly as I could I was able to brace myself against the blow that came and my body made a small crater in the ground.

"What the fuck Kakuzu you hypocritical piece of shit, I thought we weren't allowed to kill this fucking bastard." Voiced the second of the two and I just about laughed out loud, so he thought I was male, I guess I can't say I'm surprised my voice is indeed quite low compared to most females' and I was also a lot taller than everyone I've ever come into contact with.

"Shut your mouth Hidan." He growled and using his momentary lapse in concentration I activated another one of my favorite techniques that allowed me to shoot lightning from my palm. Unfortunately he blocked it quite effectively but I was already swinging with my sword aiming right for where I knew his heart to be, or at least one of them. He jumped away but at the last moment I extended the lightning just a bit and ended up catching the front of his cloak. The minute he noticed I saw his glare increase tenfold and for the first time I was finally afraid. "You'll pay for that, bitch." He promised darkly "This ends now."

Just as he said that threads literally sprouted from the ground to wind around my arms, legs and my neck. There was a cry of "Bitch?!" somewhere to my left but I paid it no heed as I continued to stare down the man before me. I could feel the cords tightening around my limbs and my neck but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of the pain on my face. I did my best to hang onto the hilt of sword that no longer had any lightning on it but once I lost feeling in that hand I heard it clatter to the ground.

"Oi, Kakuzu we're supposed to be requiting him not fucking killing him snap out of it you fucking prick!" the other one shouted as my vision started to black out. I felt the cords tighten a little bit more before the released me completely and I, much to my shame, crumpled to my knees. With my airway once again free to breathe I started coughing roughly to clear it and rubbed the sore spots where the cords had been on my neck and wrists. I wanted badly to take off my mask but I didn't dare with these two right in front of me.

"Are you done?" Kakuzu demanded of me and I chanced a look up at him to find him standing right in front of me. Deciding I didn't like to be looking up to him in this manner I got to my feet and discovered that we were actually the same height much to my liking. On a side note I was also taller than his light haired companion which also pleased me.

"That depends, what do you want?" I asked backing up a few steps to gain some distance between me and the older ex-Waterfall village ninja.

"We were sent by our Leader, he is extending you an invitation to join our group known as the Akatsuki." He stated plainly but still in a highly irritated tone.

"Akatsuki? What the hell is that? I've never heard of them."

"They are an organization comprised of elite S-Class shinobi dedicated to making world peace."

"World peace? Seriously, I call bullshit. There's no such thing." I retorted and I heard the other one scoff.

"Yeah I fucking know right? That's what I fucking said when these heathens came and asked me to join but at least the pay is fucking good even if I have to deal with this asshole every day." He stated and I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, it seems he certainly had a colorful vocabulary. I have to admit the thought of getting paid on a regular basis with a nice fat paycheck at that sounded quite nice actually.

"Would I have to wear one of those awful cloaks too?" I asked and Kakuzu gave me another glare.

"Yes, you damn brat now are you in or can I kill you now?" he growled and unfortunately I knew he would stick to his word and kill me if I declined plus he was so high above my level of skill that I also knew I had no chance of stopping him whatsoever. Plus I _really_ liked the sound of a solid source of income.

"Sure I guess, I don't really see a reason why not to." I accepted and because I for once was tired of wearing the mask and also partly because I wanted to see the look on the second one's face I took it off and pulled down my hood, "Oh and by the way, I'm a woman you dumbass."

Revealing what I looked like for the first time in a long time was totally worth it to see the dumbstruck look on his face.

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**The next chapter will be up sometime next week :)**

**Please review if you liked it!**


	2. Rain Country: New Partners

**Alright so here's the next chapter a day ahead of schedule but I'm too excited to keep this story going that I couldn't wait any longer!**

**I also fixed some stuff that I found out was wrong after finishing the first chapter (like the fact that Waterfall doesn't have a Kage whoops) but anyways without further ado here is the next chapter!**

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Once we'd started walking I'd informed them that I needed to make a stop at a guard outpost so I would be able to collect the money I was owed from the bounty I just taken out. Secretly I knew that this was something that would irritate Kakuzu seeing as he was a bounty hunter and money lover himself. As I suspected he bristled at the words 'bounty' and 'money' especially since he knew he wouldn't be seeing a single ryo, or at least he better know that otherwise we were going to get in another spat.

"So what'd you do to become a rogue nin, Toko-_chan_?" the one I'd come to know as Hidan asked with special emphasis on the suffix because only an hour after knowing him he'd already found something to annoy me with. A kunai flashed and the next thing he knew I was holding against his jugular, he only smirked and continued to watch me for my reaction.

"I killed the leader of Takigakure and anyone else who got in my way." I stated with deadly loathing for the man that had royally fucked my life up. Just ahead of us I saw Kakuzu slow down a bit and turn back to appraise me in a new light after my statement. It obviously wouldn't have been the same leader that had been around when he was part of the village but I know for a fact that he held no good will towards anyone from our ex-village. It disgusted me that we also had that in common.

Hidan whistled appreciatively as I removed the kunai from his person and put it back in my case. I still had my hood and mask off because for once I really didn't feel the need to cover my hair or face. For the first time in nearly seven years I was experiencing a sensation I had become unfamiliar with. Despite the fact that I knew it was completely and utterly crazy not to mention incredibly stupid, for the first time since I left my village I felt…

…safe.

Although considering I was being escorted by two fellow S-Class rogue nins like myself I was as safe as could be. I don't think there was anyone that would be willing to take all of us on at once if they could avoid it. I didn't even have to worry about any idiots mistakenly trying to take me on thinking I was that idiot bomber from Iwagakure.

"So spill the fucking details. What did this fucker do to have you kill his ass?" Hidan prompted and I gave him a glare over my shoulder and couldn't help but smirk,

"I'll tell you when you finally grow taller than me, shorty." To be fair although he had already found something to annoy me about, I in return had also found something to torment _him_ about. This was the most fun I'd had in years and by god I wasn't letting it go to waste, plus riling him up was just too easy.

"Fuck you bitch! I'm not short you're just fucking ridiculously tall! Especially for a damn woman and boy are you lucky I don't go for tall broads." He retorted heatedly and I couldn't help but take it one step further.

"Well compared to the rest of us you are _chibi-kun._" I cooed and I watched as he went from angry to absolutely livid. I swear I saw a blush appear on his face as he reached for that monster of a three bladed scythe.

"That's it bitch! I'm sacrificing you to Jashin-sama! I'm sure he'd love a fucking heathen like you!" he screamed and I'm pretty sure that I heard his voice crack when he said it too. Good more things to bug him about later.

"First you have to catch me with those tiny legs of yours though." I taunted him before disappearing into the trees just as his scythe passed through the spot I had been only moments ago. Not wasting any more time I started jumping on the branches although I made sure to keep going in the correct direction because I didn't want to incur Kakuzu's wrath which I also knew could be incredibly deadly. Despite that fact I couldn't stop myself from acting like an excited teenager.

Unfortunately after a while the old man got tired of our shit and put an end to it by chopping off Hidan's head. that is also how I came to know that Hidan was apparently immortal and could survive any type of attack that a person could dish out.

I believe it would be accurate to say that this was very similar to how the rest of our journey went.

* * *

When we finally arrived in Rain I was not surprised to find that it was truly living up to its name and it was pouring buckets. I'd drawn my hood up tight around my face and also put my mask back on like I'd done for any of the villages and towns we'd passed through, even though admittedly, there hadn't been many. If I thought I was bad with trying to conserve money, Kakuzu was ten times worse easily earning him the title of miser, which Hidan used towards him frequently.

I was also glad that we'd finally arrived at our destination though, despite the fact that Hidan could be lots of fun to rile up and tease, there was only so much of his constant bitching and speeches about his god Jashin that I could take.

Apparently our final destination ended up being the tallest building in the whole village and I was dreading the climb up the many stairs that would undoubedtly be inside, I also had no doubt we'd be going to the top. Why? Because no leader of a secret organization was going to settle for a first floor view, nope, he'd be in the penthouse without a doubt.

As I followed Kakuzu inside and he immediately headed for the stairs I knew I'd called it as we started the climb up, up and up. As we were traversing the stairs I was secretly very glad that I hadn't been inactive in the slightest during my time as a missing nin because otherwise it would have made these blasted stairs a lot harder.

Once we finally reached the top I saw three silhouettes outlined against the open sky. Two were male and the third was female, of the three only one was sitting down and I assumed it to be one of the men because the outline of the one was very feminine indeed. The other one standing was the one I assumed to be the 'Leader-sama' they all talked about.

"Kakuzu, Hidan, you may leave and continue your duties as you were assigned." A deep commanding voice ordered and without a word, the two shinobi that had been escorting me exited the way they came and I was left alone with this mysterious figure that was now without a doubt the Leader-sama. "I am Pain, I am God, and you are to refer to me as Leader-sama or Kami-sama. Ishiyama Tokoryu, you have thus far agreed to join the organization known as the Akatsuki. If you have changed your mind, this is your last chance, but I trust you are fully aware that this time you would not leave with your life. Do you still accept the offer?" this unknown Leader asked me and I could sense the cold finality of his words. If I refused he would kill me, it was a simple as that, and I didn't stand a chance in hell.

"I wouldn't have come this far if I didn't." I responded and I could see him nod before he gestured to the woman at his side that approached me with a cloak folded over her arms that I assumed to be the uniform everyone was expected to wear. Shrugging out of my old one and having to pull down my hood was not something I relished but it was something that I had to do. I quickly donned the other one and found it to be surprisingly comfortable and warm. The fabric was thick and durable, I doubted it would tear or rip easily. After that she handed me a round hat with tassels hanging down from it and a string with two bells on it, I assumed that combined with the high collar of the cloak it would hide my identity almost completely. Next she held out a ring for me with the kanji for 'scarlet' engraved on a similarly red background.

"This ring will allow us to contact you telepathically no matter where you are or what you are doing; it is to be placed on your right ring finger." Leader ordered and I took it from the woman in front of me and did as he said. I watched as my fingernails turned black as, what I assumed to be, a side effect of the jutsu woven into the band of silver currently around my finger. "As you may have noticed the Akatsuki work in pairs, your partner will be Hoshigaki Kisame." The third figure rose from his seated position and started to walk towards me and I couldn't help but stare as I realized that he was _taller_ than me. "As your first mission, your job is to go and collect funds for the organization by doing whatever means necessary. This is your assigned task until we have further orders for you. Dismissed." He stated before turning his back on us expecting us to show ourselves out.

"Yes Leader-sama." My partner responded loyally and brushed past me back towards the stairs and I was left standing in slight shock. He… he is…

…taller than me…

Following him out of the room we walked down the stairs and even while we were descending I could hardly believe that even then I was barely taller being the one on the stair constantly one step behind him. A thought flittered through my head that this was probably going to be the only time that I would ever get to look _down_ on him.

Once we reached the bottom he turned to me and that's when I noticed that he had a primary blue complexion with three gill like markings on his cheeks right underneath his eyes, which were small and beady looking. Other than that I recognized him to of course be quite broad shouldered and stand quite a few centimeters taller than me.

"You should know that if you annoy me, I'll kill you." He stated and smirked with some form of dark amusement. I felt my eyes narrow at him and his threat.

"The same goes for you. If you piss me off I'll send you straight to hell with a lightning bolt stuck in your chest." I retorted and continued to walk past him not looking over my shoulder to see what his reaction would be. It was a silent dare to try something while my back was turned. Sure enough I ended up seeing the giant sword he carried on his back was grazing my ear just above my shoulder. I took his challenge and teleported directly behind him with my own Lightning Blade activated and around his neck, "Two can play at this game."

I heard a grunt of amusement before his own sword was swinging back towards me and I had to drop to the ground in order to avoid it. While down there I took the opportunity to try and take out his legs with my weapon, which he then jumped to avoid and landed a safe distance away from me. At that moment I decided that if this was to continue which I was betting it would because I had no intention of backing down and I was sure he didn't either, I spoke up.

"If we're going to continue this, I suggest we take it outside so Leader-sama doesn't get mad that we're destroying his headquarters." I suggested and without waiting for his response I exited the building. Once outside I put on the hat to keep my hair from getting wet and started running towards the gates, my goal to get as far from this village as possible before I stopped to face my opponent. I had hoped to run past Hidan and Kakuzu one more time, if only to rile the zealot up one last time but they must have gone a different way because I didn't see any sign of them on my way out. I could feel the chakra of my partner following me out of the village and upon realized what a large signature it actually was, I was beginning to think my decision to fight him was maybe not in my best interests.

Outside in a wide open space, I finally stopped and turned to face my adversary. True to our ninja status, the run had affected neither of us and we were both fresh and prepped for a fight to determine who the better shinobi was. A quick mental scan of him told me that he carried no Kekkei Genkai that I would have to worry about, although I'm not sure that was a good thing. Ninja tended to use their bloodline limits as a crutch, and when they finally found themselves without one to use, they were much less capable and were easier to take down.

We both threw off our hats and stared each other down black eyes meeting red while we sized each other up. He was obviously very big so he would no doubt have lots of strength to pack behind a punch and he felt like he had more chakra than a Tailed Beast. Plus there is that huge sword of his that I assumed to be one of the Seven Legendary blades of the Hidden Mist, if I recalled correctly this one was Samehada and it had the ability to absorb chakra and tear flesh rather than cutting it. That was definitely something I had to avoid at all costs. Fighting him from a distance might be my best option if I wanted to keep away from that weapon, even if I was stronger with close range fighting.

"I'm not going to hold back on you." He warned me as he hefted that monstrosity of a blade over his shoulder.

"Good, I was hoping this fight wouldn't be too easy." I retorted while readying my own weapon and lengthening the lightning on it a bit to make up for the extra range that Kisame had over me. It still felt weird to be fighting someone who was bigger than me in every sense of the word.

"Here, I come." He warned before throwing his sword up in the air and forming hand seals. I electrified some kunai and threw them at him in an attempt to stop him from completing his seals. After that I charged towards him with my sword held out to the side and when my kunai failed to hit their target I followed them up with a roundhouse kick that was aimed for his head. when he stopped his seals to block that I felt like I had won a small victory but I couldn't afford to let it go to my head because he was already in the middle of countering with his own kick that I'm sure would have done much more damage to me than mine would have to him. Concentrating on a rock behind him I felt his attack connect just before I felt the Substitution jutsu take place and I was behind him ready with my lightning blade ready and sliced clean through his neck before he exploded into a pile of water.

A water clone! But where—?

"Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" came the yell from above me where I could see him vomiting up an inhuman amount of water. Moving as fast as I could I jumped on top of the tallest boulder I could find and hoped that it would be big enough to still be above the water level that would no doubt be flooding this entire area. As the water kept coming and coming I was forced off of my rock and onto the surface using chakra to keep myself from going under. I knew that without a doubt if I let that happen I would be as good as dead. That didn't mean I couldn't use this to my advantage though.

"Lightning Style: Electric Current!" I cried before slamming my hand down on the surface and watching as my lightning snaked up the gigantic wave to wear my opponent was still spewing up water. Just before it reached him he cut off the flow and jumped to avoid getting electrocuted by my lightning. I wasn't finished yet though, if he was going to be generous enough to give me a water field I was going to put it to good use. "Lightning Style: Electric Eels!" from my hands formed five sparking serpentine like creatures that dove into the water and once again rushed towards Kisame who was once again standing on top of his wave like he was the king of the world. With a particularly powerful wave he easily dispelled the eels that I sent towards him. Then both he and the wave began their deadly descent and I prepared myself for the worst, there was no dodging those waves, at least until they were somewhat smaller. So turning tail, I started sprinting in the opposite direction away from the oncoming attack, it hurt my S-Class Shinobi pride to run from an attack so quickly but it would be foolish to stay and die in the face of a technique I couldn't hope to counter.

I could hear the waves crashing behind me and daring a quick glance over my shoulder I noted that they had met with the ground and were continuing to surge towards me. This was my chance. Forming the hand seals for a third jutsu I activated it and I felt and saw my Lightning change color to a blood red. With this upgrade my power and speed heightened to levels that had yet to be rivaled. Leaping at back at him I moved so quickly I disappeared from view for a fraction of a second before I was so close to his face I could practically feel his breath on my face and my sword was centimeters from his chest. With a movement too fast for me to follow he'd brought Samehada up and blocked my attack and I could feel the sword eating up my chakra.

Jumping back I landed on the surface of the water that was still churning dangerously although the deadly effect that those waves would have had was over now. I deactivated my body technique as exposure for any longer would have started to cause damage to my muscles.

Just as we were about to leap at each other again a third presence appeared in between us and with a single command of "Shinra Tensei." An invisible force threw me backwards and it was only a testament to my skill as an S-Class shinobi that I was able to recover from it and land squarely on my feet.

"You two have delayed for long enough. You have your assignment and I expect you to fulfill it." The deep commanding voice of Leader ordered. I could only stare at the man before me as he looked completely different as to how I thought he would. Bright orange hair, multiple black face and ear piercings and a Kekkei Genkai that was so powerful I wasn't even sure if I was to encounter him in a fight if I would be able to turn it off for any amount of time.

"Yes, Leader-sama. I was merely showing this brat what would happen if he crossed me." Kisame explained and I felt my patience disappear as I ripped the mask off my face for the second time in under two days and glared at him for all I was worth.

"For fuck sakes I'm a _woman_!" I practically screamed at him and I watched as a mix of shock and disbelief overtook his features. I was really beginning to get tired of seeing that expression on their faces…

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**Alright so that was the second chapter! What are your thoughts so far? I'd love to hear them in a review if you feel so inclined! :)**

**I have six chapters already finished for this story so I will continue to update about once a week ^^ thanks for reading!**


	3. Grass Country: Mission Start

**Alright so here's chapter three and to be honest I'm not sure how entirely sure I feel about this chapter especially the Omake that I have included at the end as like a bonus scene. It was something I intended to put in later but then decided I couldn't wait and put it in this chapter instead. It is a little citrus-y so be warned.**

**Thank you to everyone who has alerted/faved, and (of course) reviewed this story I am so grateful for your support!**

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"Since we're going to be working together from now is suppose I should introduce myself, my name is Hoshigaki Kisame, Monster of the Hidden Mist and ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Nice to meet you." Kisame introduced himself quite formally and I was impressed that the blue man actually had some manners.

"I'm Ishiyama Tokoryu, the Crimson Lightning of the Hidden Waterfall. Nice to meet you." I responded in kind "I've heard of you Kisame-san, killing your fellow ninja in cold blood before in turn killing your master to obtain the sword you now currently wield. I hope you have gotten past that team killing phase or our partnership will become very difficult."

"I have also heard the rumors surrounding your own defection Tokoryu-san, how you murdered your whole clan and then a few years later, you went back for the leader and many of the ANBU that served the village. Between the two of us you have the higher count of killing comrades." He retorted and I felt rage start to bubble beneath my skin but I managed to hold it down and instead of denying or confirming his statement I chose instead to remain silent.

It wasn't until sometime later that he decided to strike up conversation again. Although I can't say I was happy about his choice of topic.

"So how is it that a woman managed to get accepted into Akatsuki?" the shark I was partnered with boldly asked as we began our mission of bounty hunting. I felt my hand twitch towards a kunai but managed to resist the urge to plunge it into his eye.

"You mean besides my good looks and how I've completely seduced Leader-sama?" I responded rhetorically, my words dripping with distain and sarcasm, while giving him the best glare I could, "Skill of course." I finished with a snap to my words.

"Heh, I guess I should have known." He admitted and I felt somewhat more satisfied that he now accepted that the only reason I was chosen was the same as him, I had skills that they wanted on their side. Pulling my Bingo Book out of my pouch I started to flip through and see if there were any that would be worth our time to track down. Since we left Rain I removed my hat because that thing was so cumbersome and always seemed to be in my way when I didn't need it to be. Thankfully I'd had a spare containment scroll that I was able to put it in.

"So who's going to be our first target?" he asked and I continued to flip through the pages as I actually had yet to find one that would even be worthy of our time. Now that I had a partner that would be able to help me take down targets I could up the level of bounties we went after.

"I haven't found one yet; we might need to stop at a guard outpost so I can pick up a more recent bingo book." I responded just before my ears caught the sound of running water. "Before that however there is something I need to take care of." I declared before following my ears to the source.

"What are you doing?" Kisame inquired of me as we stepped off the path. I didn't answer right away but instead waited for him to figure it out on his own. Once the river came into view he seemed to come to an idea about what I was intending.

"I am refilling my canteen and then I am getting the smell of the Land of Fire and Rain off me." I stated and I could feel the look of astonishment that he gave my back.

"Not that I'm complaining about the opportunity to see a kunochi naked but is that something that should be on our priorities list?" he asked amusement clear in his tone. I counted this as a good thing because I had no doubt that if he wasn't amused by this then I would be having to put up with a very angry shark right about now.

"I haven't had a chance to have a bath of any kind since Hidan and that miser bastard Kakuzu picked me up and that was almost a week ago now." I retorted as we reached the river bank and I knelt down and dunked my canteen underneath the surface and watched until there were no more bubbles breaking the surface. After that I unbuttoned my cloak and threw it off to the side on a rock, and then I reached for the zipper on the front of my shirt while fully aware of Kisame's eyes on me at this point. I wasn't really concerned though, I wasn't stripping down all the way, only to the black band I used to secure my chest to make sure that it wouldn't be bouncing all over the place while I was running or fighting. Kicking off my sandals I stripped off my pants down to the black stretchy shorts that I always wore underneath them for moments like this where I needed to bathe outside. Turning back to my partner I saw him smirk in way that promised nasty things as he gave me an appreciative look up and down.

"Not bad, Tokoryu-san." He said. I didn't give him a reaction other than to reach into a pouch and grabbed a hair tie and then proceeded to pull my hair up into a bun to keep it out of the water. There was almost nothing I hated more than the feeling of my hair being wet.

The water was freezing as I waded in but I knew if I showed any sort of reaction to it, Kisame would never let me live it down. For a small river I was quite impressed that it was deep enough to reach up to my waist just below my band around my chest. No sooner had I entered the water that I picked up a group of ninja approaching us from the opposite shore.

"Head's up Kisame, we're about to have some company." I warned him but it seems like he already knew when he gave me a simple response of "Yeah" while he readied his precious Samehada that was bristling in anticipation of devouring chakra.

Sure enough a group of three rogue ninja busted through the tree line and immediately saw me in favor of my fully dressed partner. That wasn't really surprising after all; I was a half-naked and seemingly helpless female.

"Woo look at our luck today boys! If we play our cards right we might be able to add a Kunoichi to our ranks and as a bonus it's that Deidara chick. I guess the Bingo Books got that part wrong." The leader drawled and I stopped what I was doing, to get a good look at the one that had said that. He was short with a Kumo headband that was of course scratched, a black mesh shirt, black pants and white leg warmers. After a quick scan with my own Kekkei Genkai I was surprised to find that he did actually have one and while it wasn't anything super special or powerful it did render water based ninjutsu ineffective against him. I gave him a sneer before I turned to get out and grab some of my materials.

"You're in luck that I'm here Kisame or otherwise you might have some trouble taking these guys down. That one monkey that's speaking has a bloodline limit that negates all water based jutsu." I heard a splutter of indignation behind me as I picked up my belt with all my tools on it.

"How did you know that? And aren't you mixing that sentence up and counting yourself lucky that _I'm _here?" I heard the irritated tone of his voice.

"Because I also have a bloodline limit that specializes in identifying and deactivating other bloodline limits." I saw the group on the other side, especially the monkey, start to look anywhere but where we were. With an exertion of my will, I activated my ability and I felt the familiar click of his being shut down. "Unless you take him down with some really painful or slowly with water ninjutsu he's mine." I warned Kisame and felt him shift into a fighting stance beside me.

"Heh, the only way you're getting him is if you get to him before I do." He replied before we both burst into action. He was slinging water jutsu all over the place and I was sticking mainly to my taijutsu because otherwise I wasn't sure if I would be able to get out of the way in time if I got in the way of Kisame's berserker attacks. Thanks to our combined abilities though the battle was so pathetically short I won't even bother to describe it. They didn't have a chance after I shut down their leader's bloodline limit enabling him to be damaged by Kisame's techniques.

Once it was over I was dry and able to get fully dressed once again. I hadn't been able to take down their monkey leader but Kisame had made sure that he got the slow painful death he deserved therefore I was satisfied. Although now that that battle was over with I now had to face questions from the shark, or at least that's what I thought would happen, turns out it was more like:

"You have a Kekkei Genkai huh? That could come in handy for future battles as well." Was what he said before walking off and I supposed I was expected to follow him. I suppose it was only fair considering that I had done the same to him not long ago.

"We should probably work on our teamwork if we are to be fighting together." I stated and I saw him turn towards me, "It might even be a good idea to see if we can combine techniques especially considering that I am a Lightning user." I posed and he grinned in an animalistic way that made something unfamiliar rise within my gut. "I'm sure we could take out twice as many foes with techniques like that."

"Yeah, I agree." If it was possible his grin got even wider that the thought of taking down even more people at once than he currently did.

* * *

"Alright so I got a plan for how we can get a lot of money really quick." I announced after I'd had a chance to go through our new Bingo Book and once we were settled down in a hotel room. Kisame who'd been leaning against the headboard with his arms crossed behind his head, sat up and turned to me to let me know I'd gotten his attention. "There's a mob boss not too far from here who runs a prostitution ring that spans all around Grass, Stone, and Waterfall country. You can bet that he has a whole host of missing and wanted nin with good high bounties on their heads to guard these less than legal establishments. If I had to guess though I'd say his actual base of operations is located in Stone so we should probably hit that country last, even if it would mean some backtracking in our travel. So what do you think? The travel time will also give us some time to get used to each other's fighting styles and possibly find ways to combine our abilities."

Kisame grinned widely and that combined with his small eyes and overall scary appearance, just made him nothing less than frightening. "Sounds like a good opportunity to finally find some worthy opponents to feed to Samehada." He agreed and I felt a sadistic smirk of my own make its way over my features.

"Alright well since that's settled I'll be back soon." I stated vaguely before getting up and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kisame asked stupefied and confused as to why I would just get up and declare that I gave him a smile that contained many things but revealed none of them.

"Shopping." I said even more vaguely just as I let the door close behind me.

* * *

A couple hours later I made my way back into the hotel my arms laden with the items I'd bought while I was out. I bought a couple new shirts for myself as well as some new bands for my chest that this time can with straps to go over my shoulders so I wouldn't have to worry about them falling down like they had done in the past and lastly some new sandals that were actually boots that nearly reached to my knees. There was also some food items that I bought for the trip so we wouldn't have to constantly live off the land or when we did I also got some spices to liven up anything we caught.

When I reached the room I was sharing with my partner I got out the key and opened up the door and saw something that I don't think I ever expected to see in my life. Kisame sat on his bed with a towel over his head drying his hair while his Akatsuki cloak was draped over the foot of it. This would have been something completely normal and not noteworthy except for the very important fact that he was indeed naked from the waist up. When I'd entered the room he'd looked up and our eyes met for a moment before I allowed myself to very visibly give him the same reaction he'd given me earlier today.

"Hm, not bad Kisame-san." I said as I closed the door behind me, and I wasn't even lying, he was buff and not even the blue complexion could take away from that fact. Walking over to my own bed I set down the bags that I'd carried everything in and dug out two instant ramen cups one of which I threw to my partner who like expected caught it effortlessly, "I bought supper, so eat up, I hope you like beef."

* * *

**Omake- Tokoryu gets drunk**

(3rd person POV- Kisame)

Tokoryu had been gone for a long time now, she said she'd be only gone for about an hour and by now it was well past four. He would never admit it out loud but he was beginning to worry. Not that she couldn't handle herself just fine; she'd already proven that to him many times before. Something must have gone wrong, he should go find her and make sure some ANBU hadn't found her and thrown her in a cell. He smirked in amusement at the last time that had happened and he'd been able to storm the place and kill as many people as he pleased.

Leaving the hotel he calmly walked down the streets looking for the familiar head of blonde hair that usually stood a good head and shoulders above everyone else. As usual whenever he walked without his hat in a public place people would always stare at him like he was a freak of nature. And perhaps he was, but it was who he was and there was nothing he would want to do to change that because nothing could compete with the expressions his enemies made when he let loose one of his sadistic grins. He sincerely doubted it would have the same effect if he was normal looking. Of course there was one person who had never looked at him like he was something unnatural and treated him just as equally as she treated everyone else. It figures that she would be the same person he was currently searching for.

"WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO GRAB MY ASS?!" came a screech from one of the establishments Kisame was aware of that was called a 'bar'. A man busted through the door, flying out into the middle of the street before making contact with the ground. It can't be…

Sure enough that familiar blonde head of hair swaggered out holding a sake bottle in one hand and supporting herself on the post holding up the roof with the other. Kisame found himself sighing heavily, as he started making his way over to his obviously high inebriated partner. She could be such a bother sometimes…

"YEAH YOU BETTER STAY DOWN…bitch." She slurred before draining the rest of the bottle and when she tried to throw it to the ground, lost balance and started to fall over. If it hadn't been for her grip on the post, she would have been flat on her ass. Kisame snickered a little at that image in his head before he reached her. the crowd that had gathered at the entrance to watch the show of a drunk woman beat up a guy who'd pissed her off dispersed as he approached. When she finally saw him he couldn't help but be a little shocked at her reaction.

"KISAME!" she practically yelled as a wide grin threatened to split her face in two, "I'm s'happy t'see yu'. Where've yu bin all nigh'? I'v bin getting' l'nley withou' yu'." Her speech was so slurred Kisame could hardly make out any of the words, suddenly the smile dropped from her face, "Oh righ' yu' weren' t' fin' me. Shit, I mean ooops, I mean, I'm no' here. Yu' didn' see me." She continued and watched in slight amusement as she then attempted to hide behind the pillar.

The amusement faded though when he realized she had still neglected to tell him where she was going and give an accurate time frame as to when she'd get back. She'd made him worry thinking that something bad had happened to her enough that he actually left to go looking for her rather than just sitting back and letting things play out. Now that he had found her and knew she wasn't in any danger he was tempted to just go back to the hotel and leave her to take care of herself. The more reasonable side of him told him that if that's what he did, he'd just have to come find her in the morning all over again and who knows what kind of hell she would raise while in this state.

"Come on Tokoryu, you've obviously had enough for one night." he found himself saying as he reached out to take her wrist and lead her back to the hotel room.

"Oooooh Kisame-san where're yu' leading me?" she cooed obviously well past her limit, "Ar' we goin' somewher' f'n?" she was stumbling along behind him, barely able to hold herself up.

"We are going back to the hotel room." He stated plainly and he heard her do her best to catch up with him and when she did, she did something that he never anticipated her to do, she wound herself around his arm.

"Ooooh soun's like f'n." she purred and he wasn't quite sure what to make of that so he did his best to ignore it and continue onwards as quickly as she could manage in the state she was currently in. unfortunately it wasn't fast enough for him, he was debating picking her up and running the rest of the way himself, but he wasn't sure if she would be able to handle that and the last thing he needed on top of this was her vomiting on his clothes. Finally after what seemed like a decade of walking they reached the hotel but when they came to the stairs she uttered a noise that sounded like a groan, "Nng stairs, I dun' wanna y'u haf'ta carry me." She demanded and without giving him a choice she swung herself up and he was forced to catch her… bridal style.

Deciding that the best thing to do would be to just get her into the room as quickly as possible so he could get out of this incredibly awkward situation, he had yet to realize that the worst had yet to come. About halfway up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in his scent, Kisame wasn't sure what to make of this situation either. So he made the same decision he made earlier, just ignore it and focus on getting them both back into the room where no one else would be able to see this. He promised himself that if anyone ever spoke of this he would kill them slowly and painfully.

Opening the door to the room they were sharing he let her down and guided her to one of the beds in the room. Once she saw it she thankfully let go of him and lay down happily snuggling her pillow. Glad she had finally released him, Kisame made his way to his own bed, put Samehada down, and sat down on the bed to take off his sandals. Just as he bent over though, Kisame felt two arms wrap around his neck just before he felt something warm and soft press against his back as two knees appeared on either side of his hips.

"I thought we were going to have some fun…" came a husky whisper right beside his ear. All traces of her slur was gone but there was no way she was sober already plus the way she was acting right now was definitely not any way she would act if she were.

"You were the one to say that not me." He denied and was glad that he'd kept his cloak on and hadn't discarded it before sitting down as it added an extra barrier between them. unfortunately that didn't seem to be stopping her as her hands began to wander beneath the hem and Kisame could feel his heart start to accelerate.

"Are you going to stop me?" she purred before pressing her lips against his neck and he could feel something begin to rise within his abdomen. He knew he should stop her but her soft hands trailing circles on his chest was robbing him of all reason. Then in a blur of motion he was on his back staring up at his golden haired who was now partner straddling his hips. He also noticed at that moment that she had discarded her shirt and pants in favor of the black band, and stretchy shorts that always lay underneath. That one moment of rational thinking was all he had time for before her hands grasped his cloak and ripped it wide open.

Bending down she began to run her hands up his torso while she simultaneously planted kisses along his throat down, to the service between his collar bones. By the time she was done planting that final kiss, her hands past his pectorals and moved up to entwine in his hair while she lay down on top of him. Then before he could do anything, she crashed her mouth down onto his.

Despite the fact that she was still very drunk, the kiss wasn't sloppy. At this point Kisame let himself go and returned the kiss roughly while pulling her body closer against his. If she was going to go this far, then he sure as hell wasn't going to stop her. sliding his hands down her sides and settled them on her hips that allowed him to grind against her. a moan escaped her mouth and he felt himself smirk into the kiss before he decided to take charge and flip them over so she was the one on the bottom.

He threw his cloak off quickly before he once again bent back over the female below him and gave her the same treatment that she had given him. Instead of kisses though he bit her but was careful not to use enough force to draw blood. The sequence of groans that came from her awakened an animalistic side in him that had long lay dormant. He moved to grab the band around her chest and tear it off but when his fist closed around the fabric, one of her hands was suddenly there to stop him. Looking back up at her for an explanation he found her looking at him in a way she had never seen anyone look at him before. In her eyes he saw a wide variety of things, fear, lust, but most importantly and the most out of place, affection.

"No… no further…" she mumbled and after looking in her eyes, Kisame felt whatever sensation that had been present in his veins before dissolve and he once again had full control over his body. Slowly he removed his hand from her chest and set it down on the sheets by her side to support himself instead. Still he found himself incapable of moving away completely but was content to stay there and continue to gaze into her blood red stare. The longer he looked though the more he saw that her eyes weren't a solid red, but a mix of different shades of purple and crimson. "I'm sorry… Kisame-san… I'm sorry…" The blonde whimpered and then the tears that had been welling in her eyes spilled over and for the first time since they'd met Kisame saw her cry. For some reason he didn't feel the contempt that he expected to, instead seeing her in this state instilled a sense of pity in him.

What was he thinking? Pity? He was the Monster of the Hidden Mist, he didn't feel something as soft as pity. Yet as he leaned down to give her one last chaste kiss before rolling onto his side and wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her body against his he didn't feel the cold hand of contempt instead it was a warm sensation that filled his entire body.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked flabbergasted and he only smirked into her hair.

"Sleeping, I'm going to need energy to deal with the backlash tomorrow. You should do the same." He responded before closing his eyes. He felt her shift a little until she too was lying on her side with her back to him before her breathing evened out almost immediately signaling she'd fallen asleep.

Pity. The thought of that emotion being present in his body still held mixed feelings for him but at this point in time he felt only one that was fully prominent. For the first time in well over ten years he felt…

…content.

* * *

***Squirms uncomfortably* I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so please drop a review if you would like to give me your feedback!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Grass Country: Bait

**Alright so here's the next chapter that I'm sure you've all been eagerly anticipating! **

**There's one part in here where I'm not sure if the Hidden Grass has ANBU or not, but since it's so small I'm assuming that they don't. So we're going with that!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Stepping out of that bath was one of the hardest things I'd done in a while. It had been well over a month since I'd last had hot water and a proper bath with actual soap. In fact I was so relaxed afterwards; I just about forgot to put some clothes on before I left the bathroom, which would have been a slightly awkward situation. So instead of my birthday suit I opted for one of the new shirts that showed a bit of my midriff and my usual pair of baggy black pants. I also hadn't put on my usual bander so my chest was unusually free and while it felt somewhat strange to not be wearing it, it was also really nice.

Re-entering the bedroom area, Kisame was once again fully dressed and had reassumed his resting position against the head board, Samehada was leaning against the wall on the side closest to me. Sitting down on my bed I started to brush through my wonderfully dry hair thanks to the blow dryer that was included as part of the bathroom. Once I was sure it was free of tangles I started to braid it over my shoulder, a short while later I was finished and then copied Kisame's relaxed stance.

I wasn't sure how long we both sat there in silence but to be honest it was just really nice. It was one of the things I missed while I'd been alone these past seven years, just being able to enjoy silence. Although I admit I think that enjoying the silence for so long eventually made me hate it and turned me into something that I'd rather not think about. Although now that I had someone with me these past couple days I'd been more or less reverting back to who I was before which in a sense was nice, but at the same time I couldn't afford to completely be who I used to be. Since I was a missing nin now I needed to retain some of the things I had learned in order to keep myself alive.

With that thought in mind I threw off my pants, crawled underneath the covers of the bed and willed myself to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning I was woken quite rudely when my senses warning me of the kunai currently on a collision course with my neck. Jumping out of bed I readied myself to fight whoever had gotten in the room only to find that it was still just me and Kisame. I looked around a little more to make sure I was correct in that assumption before I realized that the shark had the most shit-eating grin on his face that I'd ever seen. That's when I knew he was the one responsible for chucking a kunai at me.

"What the hell did you do that for?" I cursed at him while he just continued to stand there like he'd done nothing wrong.

"You were still sleeping so I thought I'd wake you up." He said calmly like he'd been doing a favor rather than trying to kill me.

"And what if I hadn't woken up in time, what would you have done then?" I demanded not at all pleased that he'd just tried to kill me and then try to make it sound like he'd done me a favor.

"Then you would have been too weak to survive being a missing nin in Akatsuki." At this his smirk disappeared completely and he looked dead serious about what he'd said. For the second time since I'd met him, I really was reminded why he'd been granted the title, Monster of the Hidden Mist. There wasn't a smidge of mercy in that gigantic body of his and to think last night I'd been grateful for his presence in my life now.

"Fine, I guess I can understand that. I wouldn't want a weakling for a partner either." I replied as I got dressed and transferred all of our food supplies and my clothes into containment scrolls and the pouches I wore around my waist. Since I'd left Hidden Rain I'd ditched using a bag because I'd had enough of carrying one around, especially when it didn't look good with the outfits at all.

Finished with my packing I turned and followed Kisame out of the room. Once we were out of the hotel I managed to locate the sun rising in the east.

"Grass country is north of here and it's still a couple days away so we better get going." To further prove my point I started walking in a mostly northerly direction. After a few minutes of silence I pulled out one of the energy bars that I'd bought yesterday and started eating it as my breakfast. Normally I would have thrown one to my partner, but considering the way he woke me up this morning I wasn't feeling particularly generous right now. He didn't say anything, not that I expected him to but I couldn't help feel like I'd failed in some way.

* * *

"Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave!"

"Lightning Style: Grand Lightning Storm!"

The two techniques combined into an incredibly deadly combo that would without a doubt kill anyone that was unlucky or unskilled enough to get caught in it.

After a good few days practicing that and another technique where I electrify his five feeding sharks we had gotten better at working together. We could time our attacks a bit better now so we weren't getting in the way of each other's jutsus but after only such a short time we weren't anywhere near perfect.

"Our timing could still use some work but it's definitely better than it was before." I stated after we'd both cancelled our jutsus. I watched as the lightning and water slowly started to disperse from the grassland that was all either of us could see for miles. I guess it wasn't called the Land of Grass for nothing. "Let's continue on before we call too much attention to ourselves, the last thing we need is the guards on our tails." I suggested and started walking again expecting him to follow, which he did after putting away the monstrosity of a sword that he wielded.

"So where exactly is this establishment we are supposed to be looking for?" Kisame asked and I stared straight ahead as I answered:

"Since their Hidden Village is the largest settlement, searching there is likely our best bet. Unfortunately since it _is_ a Hidden Village we will have to sneak in somehow." Risking a glance at him I saw he had an excited grin on his face, "Let me rephrase, we have to sneak in without killing anyone because it's a small village and we will be found out almost immediately if we do." He growled in annoyance.

"Samehada and I are both bored that there hasn't been anyone with the guts to challenge us." He said and I could hear the bloodlust behind his words and as much as I hated to admit it, I agreed with him to a point. While it was boring that there hadn't been any interesting run ins for the past few days, I also knew better than to ask for encounters of that kind. There were a few years early on in my defection that I wasn't proud of and if it was possible I would prefer to leave them behind me. We walked in companionable silence for the next little while as I let my mind wander in itself. I pondered the tenuous relationship that we shared. As missing nin we were both accustomed to looking out for only ourselves but now that we also both belonged to an organization that forces us to work together, it goes against mostly everything we'd learned. That led me to a question I felt needed an answer.

"Kisame-san, I have a question for you." I posed and he gave a grunt to let me know that he was listening, "Since we're partners in this, can I count on you to have my back if things start going wrong?" I gave him a level stare as I waited for his answer, although the fact that he didn't respond right away told me that this was something he had to put some serious thought into. It was also likely that he was asking himself the very same question.

"It would depend on who or what you're fighting." He responded vaguely and giving me a look that said if it benefited him to not help me he would choose that option without hesitation.

"Well I can't say I feel better, but I guess it's at least good to know that unless I'm fighting a Tailed Beast by myself I can't count on your help."

The bastard had the gall to laugh.

* * *

It wasn't until we'd gotten to the Hidden Village (or more specifically the hotel we were staying at in the Village) that we spoke again, that had been fine with me though considering I was still sore about the kunai thing and that I couldn't trust him. Deep down I knew this was stupid and that I should just let it go but the thing that hurt the most was that I knew it was my fault entirely. Kisame was just being realistic and looking out for himself, like any missing nin would. I suppose I'd just gotten sentimental with the thought of working for a group that didn't involve myself as the boss.

By the time we got into the room I was so disgusted with myself I knew the last thing I wanted to do was sit in close quarters with the Shark. I needed to get away from him for a few hours and clear my head about everything, but I didn't want to do it in this ridiculous coat. Plus if I ended up making a fool of myself there wouldn't be anything to tie me to the organization. Throwing my coat and then after another moment's consideration, my forehead protector as well, on one of the two beds here I made sure I had lots of money with me before I announced, "I'll be back" and walked straight back out. The door was closed before Kisame could make any sort of reply.

Striding out into the street I started searching for an establishment that was worthy of my time and considerable amount of money. After a few meters I saw a sign that looked promising and without further ado I went inside. The interior was actually quite nice given that from the outside it didn't look like anything really special. The whole room was furnished in a nice dark wood with tables and private booths for those that wished for them. There was also an elevated bar complete with bar stools for patrons to sit on. Considering that it was already quite late into the night already the place was quite full with only a few open seats sporadically spaced around. I didn't care for the tables though, my place was at the bar, where I'd be perfectly content to sit by myself and drink until I couldn't see straight.

Sliding on to one of the open seats, I saw the bar keep walk up to me and without giving him a chance to ask I slapped down a thick wad of cash, "Sake, don't bother with a cup, just give me the bottle and keep me supplied." I demanded and he looked shocked at my declaration before taking the money and returning with a couple bottles one of which I uncorked immediately and started drinking.

Stupid Kisame.

Drink.

Stupid Akatsuki.

Drink.

Stupid Waterfall.

Drink.

Stupid me.

At that last reason I drank heavily before I realized that I'd already finished one bottle. Putting it off to the side I grabbed the other and uncorked it next. This cycle continued for a good while before I no longer found myself alone at the bar.

"A woman who knows how to drink, now that's a rare find indeed." A smooth voice spoke from beside me and I turned my head to see a man in his early twenties with glossy black hair that covered the right half of his face. He was so obviously not ninja it was almost funny because he had no idea who he was trying to chat up.

"I'm not in the mood for company." I stated bluntly in hopes that it would throw him off. I didn't like the vibe he was giving off either, I'd encountered his type before. I wouldn't be surprised if he was working as recruiter for the prostitution ring Kisame and I were going to bring down.

"In that case let me buy you a drink and I'll leave you alone. Sound fair?" he replied and my head was filled with alarms going off warning me that he didn't intend to do that in the slightest.

"I don't take drinks from strangers." I refused and gave him a warning glance which he smiled at in response.

"How rude of me, I didn't introduce myself. My name's Horaku Yami, you can just call me Yami though, no honorifics necessary. There, no longer strangers. And you, beautiful? What's your name?" I had to hold back a snort. _Beautiful? _No one's called me that in a couple years at least. I gave him a less than impressed glance which was returned with a cocky smirk. It was blaringly obvious he was very used to this act having succeeded a little more by now.

"Yuki." I replied coldly

"Ah, and yet you are just as pretty as freshly fallen snow and just as cold it seems." He laughed and I began to feel my patience wear thin.

"You said you were going to buy me a drink?" I reminded him and he smiled jovially.

"Yes I did didn't I? Haru, a special for the lovely lady here, and make it a double!" he called to the barkeep and I took special care to keep one eye on him while he was making it. Just like I thought at one point he checked to make sure I wasn't watching, which was when I decided to take a drink of my sake bottle just before I saw him slip something else in the drink. I almost smiled at how predictable his play was, now the question was: did I dare take the drink?

A soft 'clunk' alerted me that the drink tender had set the glass on the bar in front of me and after an impulsive decision I decided I was going to play dangerously. I would just have to burn it out of my system before whatever it was could kick in.

"There you go, are you sure you don't want me to stick around?" he asked sweetly with an overly sugared smile. I just about vomited.

"Yup." I confirmed and finished my last bottle of sake in one big gulp. Before I took the glass in my hand and looking him straight in the eye I downed it all in one gulp. I swear I saw a glint of triumph in his eye but I didn't really stick around to find out. "Seeing as you aren't keeping to our agreement I think I'll just go ahead and take my leave. Thanks for the drink." With that declaration I stood up and watched with satisfaction as horror flitted over his features for the briefest of seconds. Before he could react in any way however I was already walking towards the door.

I was outside before he'd even made a move and jumping across rooftops as quickly and as quietly as I could. I needed my chakra pills for an extra boost that I would need to burn this drug out of my system before it took effect. Thankfully I was actually quite close to the hotel we were staying in and I was able to quickly get back into our room.

As I touched back down on the ground I could start to feel the effects of whatever it was he gave me, dizziness and tiredness began to affect my conscious. I ran up the stairs and practically ripped the door off its hinges when I burst through successfully scaring my partner as Kisame instantly jumped into a fighting stance. I slammed the door behind me as I lunged for the pouches I left on the bed and rifled through them until I found what I was looking for.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded as I hurriedly sat on the bed and closed my eyes to concentrate on purging my system of this drug. I felt my chakra flare as the pill I took kicked in and as I used my lightning release to speed up my metabolism to ten times the rate of a normal person. After that it was less than a minute until I had completely cleansed my body of the toxin. Once I was done, I was exhausted and flopped backwards onto the bed staring at the ceiling. Or at least I was until I saw the blue face of Kisame as he towered over me. "Are you going to tell me what is happening now?" he was obviously agitated at my actions but I didn't have the energy to tell him for another few seconds.

"I think I found a recruiter for the prostitution ring..." I informed him, and I could see the surprise on his face, "…and he gave me a drug of some form. I assume it was something to knock me out or otherwise subdue me." After my statement I could feel the air grow heavy and tense and after risking another glance at my partner I found the scariest glare to date on his face. Right after that the only thing I could see was the tip of Samehada as Kisame held it directly above my throat, I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I should kill you right here and now for doing something so stupid. If this pathetic village had ANBU they'd be coming down on us in droves because of you." He growled at me and I could feel my temper start to flare for the umpteenth time that night.

"The only reason I felt safe doing what I did was because I knew that there would _be no_ ANBU here. I don't know if you recall or not Kisame but I did manage to survive on my own as a missing nin before joining the Akatsuki and I achieved the classification of S-Rank at that." I gripped Samehada not caring that it bit into my hands as my fingers started to spark with red lightning, "And let's not also forget that I was able to fight one-on-one with you Hoshigaki and the only reason a true winner was never revealed was because Leader-sama stopped it himself." I could feel the cuts getting deeper and my chakra start to be absorbed by the blade but I didn't let go and continued to get up until I was standing right in front of him glaring fiercely for all I was worth, "Stop treating me like a child and an inferior, for I am not." With that I pushed his blade away not once breaking eye contact with the giant menacing shark that was before me. My whole body by this point was sparking with lightning but I had a point to prove and I'd be damned if I didn't get it across. After a few moments of mutual glaring backed down and put Samehada back on his back.

"Hmph, we'll see about that." He replied before walking away and I was glad that we'd come to an understanding of sorts.

"Good, so don't get comfortable because we have to go back to that bar and have the rat lead us back to its nest." I informed him as I grabbed my shirt that cut low and rose high to reveal my stomach, he gave me a strange look that clearly said he was confused.

"And what are you doing with that then?" he demanded and I grinned mischievously.

"I'm going to be the bait of course." Was my response right as I transformed into a girl that looked absolutely nothing like me.

* * *

**Things are finally getting going yay!**

**Also I noticed that at least one of you is wondering about her back story and justr as a general comment, yes it is going to be revealed. It's something that I want to work in slowly because I want to focus on (not only how she is now rather than what she used to be like) her creating a relationship with Kisame and vice versa.**

**Always interested to hear your thoughts on my work and please drop a review if you'd like to share them!**


	5. Grass Country: Execution

**Hello, I'm sorry this chapter is a day late but life bitch-slapped me really hard these past couple days and it's been all I could do to just stay awake. **

**Also in my last chapter someone mentioned that they didn't think Kisame had enough 'screen time' so to speak and while there wasn't anything I could do for this chapter (aside from rewriting the whole thing which I didn't have time for) I will do my best to give him more screen time later I promise!**

**WARNING: SLIGHT TORTURE THEMES NEAR THE END.**

* * *

After I'd finished getting myself ready, Kisame and I began to make our way out. My new look consisted of a dark green top that cut low to reveal cleavage and rose high to reveal a pierced navel that came with the transformation jutsu I was now encased in. In my attempt to make this new me be less identifiable I gave myself brown hair and green eyes that matched my top almost perfectly. I was also a foot shorter and felt even shorter compared to the absolutely ridiculous giant that was my partner. To add salt to the wound, Kisame seemed to be back in high spirits and seemed to enjoy tormenting me about it immensely.

"How's the weather down there, chibi-chan?" the damn shark taunted me and I could feel a vein start to bulge in my forehead.

"I can still kill you even in this body." I warned him through gritted teeth and he only chuckled at my indignity. "You have my cloak and weapons right?" I asked changing the subject although I don't think it worked well enough because he was still giving me a look of the utmost amusement, I think it also had to do with the fact that my voice was considerably higher and more feminine in this form.

"Don't worry chibi-chan; you'll have all your normal clothes when this is done." The shark replied and I could still hear the smirk in his voice, from this angle however I couldn't see it and that aggravated me to absolutely no end. I officially hated being short.

"You remember the plan right?"

"Of course chibi-chan, although are you really going to let him drug you again?" he asked with mild disbelief and I nodded

"Yes, but as long as my lightning is accelerating my metabolism to get through the effects as quickly as possible I should be able to fight by the time we get to wherever it is we'll be going. It's also likely that I'll have to pretend I'm incapacitated until we get to wherever he takes me." As we walked out I turned to him and looked the shark in the eye, or as best as I could being so short, "We're in this together Kisame-san, can I count on you?" he grinned animalistically and placed one of his gigantic hands on top of my head, much to my distaste.

"Don't worry chibi-chan you're not going to be anyone's toy." To aggravate me further he ruffled my hair before I managed to swipe his hand off. I gave him my harshest glare but he only laughed as he disappeared and I suddenly couldn't sense him anymore. I have to admit I was impressed, for someone as big and with as much chakra as him; he was surprisingly swift and stealthy. Shaking it off I started to make my way back to the bar I was at previously, it wouldn't do to just hang around, especially since I knew he would be watching me and the last thing I needed was him teasing me about nerves.

Once I reached the bar I marched in without hesitation and saw that it was busier now than when I'd left earlier. I also happily noted that there were no women here and that the recruiter that I'd run into earlier was still sitting at the bar where I'd left him. I could barely hold back a smirk as I walked up to him and took the seat beside him, but on the opposite side that I had been earlier.

"What's a cute guy like you, sitting here all alone? Surely your girlfriend wouldn't leave you by yourself like this?" I teased him while leaning backwards on the bar to emphasize my chest a little more than I would normally. He glanced up and upon giving me a quick look over, a grin slid onto his face and he turned towards me fully.

"I don't have a girlfriend, I'm here by myself. I'm Horaku Yami and what about you, beautiful? You got a boyfriend here?" he questioned me and I raised an eyebrow coyly.

"You're single? Well that makes my job easier, my name's Kobayashi Takuya; it's nice to meet you Yami-san. May I buy you a drink?" I purred and gave him a heavy lidded stare. Here I'd thought my kunoichi seduction days were long over but I have to admit, that training I'd received when I was promoted to chunnin was some of the most useful instruction I'd ever had.

"Only if you allow me to buy you one in return." He replied and I felt myself gagging at his ridiculously cheesy and overused lines but hid it beneath a smile.

"I like a man who gives what he receives." I leaned towards him brushing my chest against his arm and his hand reached out to caress my hip just above my butt. I once again stuffed down the desire to break every bone in that hand and instead slapped it lightly. Pursing my lips I brought my other hand up and waved one finger back and forth in a lightly teasing but in a disciplinary manner, "Nuh-uh-uh, there'll be plenty of time for that later." And grinned a grin that promised lots of inappropriate things to come. He returned it before calling the bar tender over and getting the night started with some drinks.

* * *

Goddammit this wasn't working as well as I thought it would be, because I wasn't able to concentrate solely on getting the drug out of my system due to the fact that I was also using chakra to also keep up the transformation, it was taking a lot longer than I anticipated. I could only hope that Kisame was following like he said he would be, after I'd allowed Yami to 'walk me home because I'd had enough' we got a few steps from the bar before he'd thrown a black bag over my head and after that I hadn't been able to tell much of what was going on. I was however able to determine that not only was the drug supposed to knock me out it also paralyzed me so I was unable to do anything to fend off attackers of any kind. It took all the will power I had to keep up my lightning jutsu and the transformation jutsu while at the same time not allowing myself to succumb to the drug.

I was actually really thankful that they'd put a bag over my head because it allowed me the freedom to make faces underneath it. I didn't have much room left for extra thought but I did have room for the one thought that I really hoped Kisame was following us. If I had to fight my way out of this by myself once this was all over I was totally hunting him down and slaughtering his ass.

Wherever we were going was a long journey in the back of the cart they'd thrown me in, I suspected it had been longer than an hour now. At least the only good thing was that I was starting to make some good headway with purging the drug from my system which was good because I'd let this lightning jutsu run for far too long already. I decided to kick it up another notch and I had to fight harder than before to keep my body as immobile as possible which became more and more difficult when it felt like I was being burned up from the inside out.

My decision was proven to be effective when I could feel the effect of the narcotic finally leave my system completely. Now that I wasn't concentrating on holding two jutsus up at once I could feel a faint spark of chakra from somewhere around me. I desperately hoped it was my partner, but when it only got stronger as we got nearer and separated into many different shinobi I highly doubted it was Kisame.

The cart ground to a halt and I could hear sounds coming from what I assumed to be a building where all the business was taken, and given in some cases. Yami and his associate got off the front of the cart and walked around to where I was laying. I could feel hands on my arms as they made me to stand and I was forced to fake an inability to do so... Since I was small in my disguise I was thrown over one of their shoulders and forcibly carried inside. Since there were other ninja in the building I wasn't sure how long my disguise would work since others like me would be able to sense the transformation jutsu that I'd put over myself.

Whoever was carrying me walked up some stairs and I could tell we'd entered the building because suddenly sound started to reverberate around me. I could hear the sounds of happy customers and felt my rage start to boil red hot. I was definitely going to have lots of fun killing every single one of these bastards in the slowest most painful ways I knew. Turning a corner we walked through a couple doors we finally stopped in an office that had at least three ninja all grouped inside. When I felt their chakra flare ever so slightly I was sure that they could sense that I wasn't who I appeared to be, the sound of someone leaning back in a chair and putting down a pen however caught my attention at the moment.

"Well well well, I have to say Yami I'm thoroughly impressed this time." The mysterious man stood from his chair and walked over to stand in front of Yami, who I assumed was the one whose shoulder I was slung over. "How on earth did you manage to bag a kunoichi?" he asked incredulously and I felt Yami stiffen beneath me, there was a beat of silence that I realized must have been Yami giving the other man a look of confusion, "You idiot! You brought an un-drugged kunoichi here?"

"Of course not! I gave her the usual dose!" Yami defended himself and I heard a scramble of weapons being drawn.

"You dimwit, that does isn't enough for a kunoichi! Quick, knock her out before she can do anything!" the mysterious man ordered and there was a flurry of movement at his words.

"Oh is the gig up?" I taunted before ripping off the bag, digging my feet into Yami's hips and pushing off his shoulder to land on my feet in front of the previous speaker. Being short he was a bit taller than me with greasy brown hair slicked back off his face, a scar across his cheek and black merciless eyes. "That's a nice white suit you're wearing, one nice enough to be buried in. Too bad you won't even get the dignity of that, at least, not once I'm through with you." I stated before sending a kick into his knees, crippling him. With a cry of anguish he crumpled to the floor and the other two ninja in the room, body guards I assumed rushed me at once with weapons in hand. They didn't get far though when we all heard what sounded like a waterfall coming down on top of us.

"Goddammit, of-fucking-course he's using that one." I cursed before jumping over the white suited leader, his desk and out the window to see the giant wave coming down the steep hill towards the whole building. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to see that stupid sadist of a shark, I turned around to see the two hired ninja trying to help their leader up but I knew they wouldn't get far enough away in time. Running up to meet the wave I jumped and landed on the wave beside my partner and rode the wave down with him. "I was beginning to think you left me on my own." I stated

"And let you have all the fun? Not a chance chibi-chan." The blue man replied and I could hear the sadistic grin in his voice. He was obviously looking forward to this as much as I was, "catch." Was all the warning I had before he tossed me the scroll that held all my supplies and change of clothes. I didn't have time to unseal everything right now because at that moment we crashed into the building which I now recognized as a mansion and the wave was so high we were forced to jump onto the roof. I heard distressed cries come from those that were trapped inside.

The wave was so powerful it crashed through the whole house and out the other side; it even did us a favor of cleaning out the filth that was on the first floor. I noticed that the men that had been in the same room as me were washed out onto the front lawn plus a few extras I guessed had been keeping watch elsewhere. "I'll watch for strays if you'll take care of those down there, with the exception of the one that drugged me twice and kidnapped me. He's mine to kill." I bargained with Kisame as I heard him heft that monster of a sword onto his shoulder.

"Fair enough, chibi-chan. But if you take too long I might get impatient and just kill the bastard myself." He replied before he both jumped down to engage in his part of the deal while I stayed on the roof for a better vantage point to escaping scum. Sure enough a handful of men, some of which were ninja started to run out the back door. Half of them weren't even properly dressed which made me believe that they were here for pleasure. That thought made my blood boil but as much as I wanted draw their deaths out I simply settled for quick ones. Also the fact that most of them had been caught off guard by the gigantic wave that practically destroyed the building. I wanted to save my energy and loathing for Yami, he deserved it more than these sons-of-bitches. Plus I didn't want to take the chance that Kisame would get impatient and kill him just to get a rise out of me. Confident that there were no more strays to be had, I started to make my way back around the house to where I was sure Kisame was finished with his part.

Rounding the side I was greeted with a sight that confirmed my earlier suspicions, all the men were dead with the exception of Yami who was cowering on the ground underneath Samehada. Taking out the scroll I bit my thumb and after putting some blood on the seal my bags and cloak 'poofed' into existence and before the smoke could clear I released the transformation jutsu and created more smoke that gave me some cover just as I threw my cloak on. Stepping out of the plumes I was never so satisfied to see a look of utter shock on someone's face before. Grinning darkly I calmly walked up to my kidnapper and watched as he practically shit himself with fear.

"Oh but baby, don't you like me now?" I cooed and after Kisame pulled away his sword, I moved overtop the cowering male and then making sure I did so extra slowly I began to sit down until I was straddling his hips. "Why are you giving me that look? Aren't we having fun tonight? I thought you said you liked to be on the bottom?" I continued to mock him as he sat beneath me paralyzed with terror.

"I'm just a civilian why are you doing this to me?" he whimpered and I felt my smile turn cold. Letting my hand trail from his shoulder and down his arm towards his hand I stopped and after gently picking it up, I positioned his fingers in between mine. Then I hardened my grasp until I was sure he wouldn't be able to move it, and then I glared darkly at him,

"You had no qualms about selling a civilian girl into sexual slavery." I stated and to prove my point bent his index finger backwards until I heard the sickening crack of bone breaking. His scream afterwards was so shrill I thought my hearing would be permanently damaged. He writhed beneath me and attempted to pull his hand from my grasp but I was immobile as a rock. His other hand became a problem so I pinned it beneath my leg. "Now you're going to tell me how many times you've done this before and for each girl you've sold, I'm going to break a finger, so you'd better hope I was your first." It was another few moments before he was able to speak again.

"None! They only contacted me a couple days ago and there hadn't been any girls—" he didn't get time to finish his lie before I'd broken his middle finger. "Three! I swear I'll never do it again, I swear!" he screamed and in response I broke his whole hand at once in my grip. I let it drop to the ground and watched as he cradled it against his chest, crying. Gently taking both sides of his face I turned his head to face me.

"I know you won't." there was a spark of relief in his eyes right before I snapped his neck. I let him fall back to the ground and got up immediately after, brushing the dirt from my Akatsuki cloak. Then I turned to meet Kisame's eyes and found him staring at me with a look of shock mixed with amusement and I might have detected… admiration?

"I didn't think you had such a sadistic streak there Ryu-chan. It seems that you can almost rival me in that sense."

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**Alright so that was chapter and to be honest I'm not all that impressed with it but I promise the next two take downs will be much better!**

**Please don't be afraid to leave me your thoughts in a review!**


	6. Grass Country: Moving On

**Hello! I'm sorry that I've been absent from updating this story but I'm back on track now and here with more chapters! Also I'm thinking of changing the story name to "Crimson Waters" any thoughts on that? But without any further delay here is the next chapter!**

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The next morning I was rudely awoken by a buzzing noise that was going off in my head and it was quickly beginning to give me a rather nasty headache. That's also when I realized my ring was glowing. Kisame seemed to be having similar issues but after making a hand sign and closing his eyes the symptoms seemed to abate, so I followed his example and copied the seal. In an instant I felt my subconscious leave my body and travel to another place entirely.

This new place was like nothing I'd ever seen, it was pitch black and from what I could tell, the rest of the Akatsuki present and also from what I could gather we were all standing on the tips of giant fingers. I assumed this was the rest of Akatsuki that is, looking over across the rainbow silhouettes that we all seemed to possess I spotted the familiar form of Kisame and was assured that this indeed was the group I'd joined. In total there seemed to be about eight members, if counting the empty two fingers was anything to go by.

"Who's this, Leader-sama? Have we finally found someone worthy of partnering with Hoshigaki-san?" one of the members hissed and I turned to my right to see two yellow eyes staring intently at me and after catching his gaze I held it steadily. I refused to be the one to look away first so I entered a staring contest with this mysterious missing nin whose name I was not aware of.

"Silence." Called Leader-sama but I refused to look until the other man had. After a beat of silence passed I saw his eyes and head turn to the thumbs of this strange statue where the Leader of the Akatsuki stood in silhouette form like everyone else present here., "This meeting has been called for two reasons. The first is to introduce our newest member, Ishiyama Tokoryu." I saw the creepy bastard from before turn back to me and appraise me in a new light

"Ishiyama you say? I thought that clan was wiped out years ago?" he stated before his eyes lit up with something akin to excitement, "Ah that must make you the infamous Crimson Lightning from Takigakure then, am I right?" I could feel my blood start to boil the more this guy kept talking, "I remember hearing about you now that I think about it. You killed one of your clan and when you were caught you slaughtered the rest of them in cold blood and then returned for the Taki Leader himself a few years later. Such a sad tale…" He chuckled darkly and at that moment I felt nothing but utter loathing.

"If you don't stop talking _snake_, I'll cut out your tongue from that big mouth of yours and feed it to you." I seethed through gritted teeth and watched as that bastard started to laugh again.

"I look forward to it, Ishiyama-san." Was his reply before I felt a pressure on my brain and was forced to look back at the Leader.

"Tokoryu, Orochimaru that is enough. Kisame, report." He ordered and I felt myself obeying without hesitation, this was one shinobi I wasn't willing to test the patience of.

"Tokoryu-san and I are currently in Grass country hunting down a string of promising bounties. We have already taken down three that held considerable amounts on their heads and will be turning them in for the reward shortly." My partner responded professionally.

"Good, I will send Zetsu along to collect the money in two days. Sasori, Orochimaru, what is your status?" there was a short round silhouette standing on one of the fingers and I assumed this was 'Sasori' because I recognized everyone else and because this 'Orochimaru' had been the creeper staring intently at me.

"We are currently hunting down two bounties in Wind country. They shouldn't be a problem to bring down, but they are proving to be rather troublesome to track." The gruff voice responded with an irritated edge to it.

"Keep me updated on the situation. Hidan, Kakuzu." Leader acknowledged before moving on to the last pair.

"It's the fucking same shit as always with this piece of shit. We're hunting some Jashin damned walking money bag in damn Rivers country." The crazy white haired male exclaimed while his partner glared at him.

"Good, there will be another meeting in three weeks and I expect more progress to have been made. Dismissed." And with that his silhouette flickered out of existence, which was followed closely by his partner's. Not wanting to stick around and hear more from that creep I too released the jutsu and felt my mind return to my body.

Still seething with anger I pulled out my Lightning blade and cleaved in half the first tree I set my eyes on. I watched with satisfaction as it toppled over before I put the blade away. Turning back to Kisame I saw him watching me with an amused grin on his face.

"The snake really riled you up that much, eh?" he chuckled, "Killing your clan though, if I hadn't seen what you put that Yami bastard through last night I wouldn't have thought you capable of doing something like that, Ryu-chan." At his words I turned and gave him my deadliest glare yet

"I didn't kill my clan." I stated with deadly intent and watched as his grin changed from amused to curious; he obviously wanted me to elaborate.

"Oh? So how come everyone thinks you did?" he shifted position into something more comfortable, he was very clearly not considering me a threat.

"Maybe someday I'll tell you why, but until then that's all you need to know." I replied vaguely and left him sitting there to take care of some more… personal matters.

* * *

"Ugh, I thought that only Fire country was this hot, this is ridiculous." I complained as I undid my cloak completely and was disappointed when it didn't really make much of a difference. "Gross that hardly changed anything give me a second," I paused and after undoing my sandals, I then took off my pants to instead wear just the shorts underneath this ridiculously warm coat. Quickly sealing them into a scroll and putting my shoes back on I felt much better, and evidently Kisame wasn't complaining about my sudden wardrobe change either "that's much better." I stated and when I caught my partner staring with a smile that said he was having less than innocent thoughts, I decided to pull the zipper down a bit on the front of my shirt to reveal just a bit of cleavage.

"Heh, you know I sometimes forget you're a woman and then you'll go and do something like this." He smirked wider, "Not that I'm complaining of course, I could definitely get used to this view." The shark man stated lewdly and I gave him a quick glance up and down not having forgotten that one time I saw him without that big cloak on.

"Well don't ever be afraid to return the favor sometime." I replied before I started walking again, if was going to stare I couldn't give a shit. I actually somewhat liked the attention and power it gave me over other people, and one thing that I learned in my seduction training was that if you could captivate your target with nothing but looks then your job was already half done. This technique worked equally well in actual fighting battles as well because if my opponent was too busy staring at my body to pay attention to what I was actually doing, why wouldn't I use that to my advantage? I am a deadly kunoichi, from the moment I entered the academy I've been trained to kill people and my body was just another weapon in my arsenal.

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled from a step or two behind me before I saw him in my peripheral vision as he caught up and started walking beside me instead. I guess the view from the back probably wasn't as nice, thanks to this billowing volumous cloak.

After walking for another little while, we both stopped to take a quick break and eat a quick meal that consisted of some energy bars that I had picked up in the last village we'd gone through. Kisame had by this point gotten used to my quick change of clothes and had stopped sneaking glances at me every five minutes or so not that it bothered me but after so long of doing my best to hide my sex, it was definitely a bit unusual.

"Ugh, I'm so tired of eating these tasteless energy bars. The next time we stop somewhere we totally need to pick up something other than these things." I grouched as I bit into another bar that had me cringing and then throwing it over my shoulder.

"Here I was thinking I would have to die from these things before you finally realized they're the shittiest thing in the world to eat." Kisame agreed as he too threw away his bar and then proceeded to make himself more comfortable against the tree he was leaning against.

"I only get them because I can't be bothered to hunt or cook food most of the time." I retorted before I too made myself comfortable against my own tree across the very small open space of ground between us. There was a snort of amusement from the man in front of me and I glanced at him to see a shit eating grin plastered on that mug of his.

"We both know what you mean by 'can't be bothered to hunt or cook' is actually just 'can't hunt or cook'. I've seen what you come back with after you finish 'hunting' and it's just sad and don't get me started on your cooking." He stared at me with a look that said he didn't regret a single word despite my own face growing darker with each word. If anything it only seemed to further amuse him, "Really makes me wonder how you've survived on your own, would you care to enlighten me on the matter?" he pondered out loud and although the end was phrased like a question I knew that it was more of a demand. This wasn't the first time he'd brought this up and he was no doubt getting tired of me never telling him. Apparently curiosity ran strong through this one. I blew some hair out of my face and felt my glare slip away.

"You already know the answer to that question; you just threw it over your shoulder. My cooking isn't that bad though! You haven't died yet so what are you complaining about?" I defended myself, my pride more than a little hurt.

"You dropped a fish in the dirt before claiming it was 'free seasoning to add flavor' before putting it over the fire and starting to cook it." The shark replied in a deadpan tone and I felt sweat accumulate on the back of my neck as I winced in memory.

"To be fair I was slightly drunk at the time." I replied looking over my shoulder and avoiding all eye contact with him as if that would help me avoid the outburst that was no doubt coming.

"You were slightly drunk? When the hell did you get liquor and find the time to drink it?" he demanded and for the first time since I'd met him he was truly flustered and confused which amused me and I couldn't stop the grin that took over my features.

"I think you're forgetting the fact that I'm a ninja. Sneaky is literally part of the job description." I retorted and only just barely stopped the laughter that threatened to bubble up from my gut. The look of indignation and just utter shock on his face was just too great. "If you're really worried about it though, I'll share next time okay?" that earned me a shake of his head before he stood to his towering height.

"Whatever, come on chibi-chan time to get a move on." He taunted me and I too got up as I started to feel a vein appear on my forehead.

"I'm not short anymore so stop calling me that."

"You're still shorter than me, so it still applies chibi-chan." He snickered and I could only glare at him since I knew it to be true.

* * *

"Here's your room key and also if you don't already know feel free to use the hot springs baths just down the road." The man behind the counter of the inn offered and I felt myself perk up.

"Hot springs?" I asked intensely curious and the old inn keeper nodded kindly,

"Yes they're the only natural ones in our tiny nation of Grass, although they are quite small and because of that they weren't able to split them between male and female. The only thing they could separate was a smaller pool for kids." He replied a little more apologetically but I couldn't care less about whether or not I'd be sharing with men, all that mattered to me was that there were hot spring baths in the area and I'd be damned if Kisame thought we were leaving without visiting them first. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gone to a hot spring and after taking down that disgusting establishment I really felt that I'd earned a treat of some form.

"How late are they open?" I asked excitedly and I could feel my partner looking at me but I didn't care to decipher what kind of stare he was giving me.

"As far as I'm aware they should be open until eleven-o'clock tonight." Was his answer and after taking the keys from him I practically ran up the stairs leading to our room. Kisame followed me at a more sedate pace and by the time he'd gotten to the room, I was already prepared to immediately head to the hot springs. It was already quite late by the time we'd made it to the village and I still wanted to have a good amount of time to have a decent soak.

"Are you coming or am I going alone?" I asked him as I took off my forehead protector and picked up a spare change of clothes that weren't dirty. Unfortunately that proved to be harder than I thought it would but I was eventually able to find something suitable.

"No, I'll stay here." He replied as he took Samehada off his back and set it down beside the bed. I shrugged in response,

"Alright suit yourself." After that I walked out and began to make my way towards the hot springs I was told of. Exiting the inn, I began to walk down the street and eventually found it since it was the second biggest building in town, next to the inn. I was definitely looking forward to this; I just hoped nothing was going to happen that would disturb me.

Stepping inside I paid the small fee that went along with the service before making my way into the changing room. Taking off my clothes I folded them neatly and put them in the small cubby hole that was provided for such a task. After that I sat down at one of the washing stations to get as much of the dirt off that I possibly could before heading to the baths to soak. Finished I grabbed one of the supplied towels; I wrapped it around myself and stepped out into the bathing area.

Like the innkeeper had warned me, it was indeed quite small with only one pool that was surrounded by lush bushes and trees and a nice assortment of stones as well. There was even a small waterfall in the back of the enclosed area which I found to be a nice touch. As for people, there was one group of men off to one side and another group of women on the opposite side, deciding that I really didn't fit into either category I made my way to the center.

At the side of the pool, I took the towel off and folded it neatly on the side before stepping in to the water. Sinking down I closed my eyes as the blissfully hot water enveloped my body completely. This was definitely worth it and I don't think I'd ever been more comfortable in my life, or at least that's how I felt in this moment even it probably wasn't true.

"Excuse me…" a timid voice interrupted my thoughts and I turned to see a girl who was probably a few years younger than me with black hair pulled up in a bun, "Would you like to join us?" this girl offered shyly and gestured back towards the group of girls I'd seen when I got in.

"No, I'm good thanks." I answered not unkindly and I swear I heard her gasp slightly at my refusal.

"O-okay then, well if you change your mind the offer's open." She stated just as quietly as before she walked back towards her friends. I let out a small sigh of relief before I leaned back and allowed myself to fully relax in the warm water.

Sometime later I came back to awareness and realized that I must have fallen asleep. Upon discovering that it was now fully dark out I decided I should probably head back before I pass out again. Getting out of the water I felt a cold breeze pass over my bare wet skin and I shivered before I managed to pull the towel around my naked form and heading inside.

Grabbing my clothes from the little shelf I'd put them on I quickly pulled them on and then after making sure that I hadn't forgotten anything I left the hot springs. On my way out the owner bowed politely and thanked me for coming which I retuned with a nod before leaving the establishment.

After the short walk back to the inn I found the room I was sharing with Kisame. I entered without knocking and with barely a grunt of acknowledgement I flopped down onto my designated bed and almost immediately fell asleep again.

* * *

**Please leave a review if you liked it!**


	7. Waterfall Country: New Developments

**So I'm late updating again and I'm sorry but I haven't been able to find the time to write much lately. University has been really rough these past couple weeks, not to mention other things that have been happening.**

**Also this chapter contains some of her back story which I know a couple of you have likely been wondering about. I hope I've done a good job with it but I'm iffy about it to be honest. Anyways without any more delay, here is the next chapter!**

* * *

_Blood._

_There was blood everywhere._

_It covered the walls, splattered the ceiling, and turned the ground into a sticky marsh that threatened to swallow me whole if I wasn't careful. _

_And where there wasn't blood, there were bodies._

_Some were whole but some were so badly mangled they could barely be seen as human. Limbs and body parts lay scattered everywhere I could see, and despite being a hardened ANBU member, I couldn't help but feel nauseated at the gruesome sight before me._

_Kids._

_Women._

_Men._

_Whoever had done this had spared no one. Fear suddenly took hold in me as I saw the decapitated head of one of the victims and immediately recognized the features._

_Blonde hair._

_Red eyes._

_That's when I realized that every dead body looked the same. They all looked like me._

_My clan._

_Someone murdered my clan._

_I was the last._

"_To…tokor…ryu…" garbled a voice by my foot and upon looking down I saw my younger sister Toki, or at least what was left of her._

_Her eyes had been gouged out, that left only two gaping holes where they should have been. One of her arms had been chopped off and her throat was gaping open with blood pouring out of it._

"_How… how could… you?" she gurgled as more blood streamed out of her mouth, I started to back away, my eyes wide in horror._

"_I didn't, I didn't do this!" I responded breathless, I felt a hand firmly latch onto my ankle and prevent me from retreating._

"_Of course… you did… our blood…is on…_your hands…_" she wheezed before I hurriedly brought my hands up to my face only to find them drenched in blood. I could only stare in horror as the thick crimson liquid started to flow from them onto the ground and mix with the blood that was already beginning to churn madly. _

_I tried to resist the pull that was slowly sucking my feet below the surface but the more I struggled the faster I was pulled in. It went past my knees, past my hips, past my waist and when it finally reached past my shoulders I knew I that there was no escape._

_The blood burned as it forced its way into my nostrils and I shut my eyes to prevent it from hurting them. I opened my mouth to scream and immediately started to choke on the thick coppery substance that began to shoving its way down my throat. I tried to breathe in but only ended up filling my lungs with the burning viscous liquid. Choking, spluttering I could feel myself fading and just as everything started to turn dark I-_

_-_Shot up in bed gasping and trembling with the left over adrenaline from the nightmare I'd just experienced. Once I'd calmed down a bit though I was glad to note that it was still night time and I hadn't woken my partner who was snoring in a very un-ninja like way not too far from me. As my heart continued to pound inside my chest, however, I knew I wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon. I guess I should count myself lucky that this was the first time in at least a year since I'd last had that nightmare. But considering it was such a horrible experience every time, I'd only count myself lucky when, or if, I stopped having it completely.

However since Kisame was doing such a nice job of making it so that the room was uninhabitable I decided that I was going to take myself elsewhere. Although since it was still the dead of night I doubted very much that there was really anywhere I could go. Most bars had probably closed by now and plus I didn't feel like drinking right now anyway. One thing was sure though, I was getting out of this room. Gathering my cloak and supplies I climbed out the window silently and then climbed up onto the roof.

Once up there I found it to have quite a nice view over the tiny village and if I looked closely I could almost see into the bathing area. I smirked as an amused snort made its way through my nostrils, although I suppose that would have been really creepy for me to be spying on people while they're trying to have a bath. A lead weight started to settle in my stomach and try as I might I couldn't ignore it or push it away. Normally that would have made me angry to have something like this beyond my control, but this time I could only feel a sense of helplessness.

Curling up with my knees against my chest I stared at the horizon off in the distance. An ache began to work its way into my chest and soon it became hard to breathe. The pressure continued to grow until I had to suppress the shuddering breaths to make them more controlled and even. A burning sensation started up behind my eyes and after I realized what was coming next I shoved my head in my arms that were tightly wound around my legs. I was extremely glad that I'd decided to come onto the roof instead of stay in the room. If Kisame had woken up while I was in the middle of this episode I would never forgive myself. I had promised myself that I was done mourning for my family years ago but even so, it was moments like these where I missed them terribly.

I missed my parents waving from the door as I left on another mission. My sister and I staying up late swapping scary stories and then not being able to sleep because we were afraid of what might attack us while our eyes were closed. I missed my cousins that I would train with and share our secrets of success in learning how to control our bloodline limit.

I also missed my old genin team and the friends I had made that now thought I was a horrible, mass murdering, genocidal traitor. My fingers tightened around my arms. What hurt the most though was that even though I had avenged my clan, I still wasn't able to forgive the Taki leader for what he had done. It was simply unforgivable and the hate I feel towards him is constantly burning within me, and it was a large factor in my change from loyal Kunoichi, to ruthless nuke-nin.

Something warm touched the top of my head and when I looked up to see what it was I discovered that the sun was rising. The horizon was turning a misty blue with the golden rays of the sun washing over the land and banishing the night for another day. A sudden rush of contentment washed over me and along with the warmth of the sun heating my skin, the chill of loneliness was washed away. There always was something about the rising sun that helped reinstate my sense of hope and realize that I had the job of living for all my clan that no longer could do so for themselves.

Making sure that I had once again fully composed myself I crept back down the roof and just as silently as I'd left I re-entered the room. Much to my surprise I found my partner still sleeping soundly although he was no longer snoring. A grin stretched across my face as I realized my opportunity for revenge. Taking out a kunai I threw it as hard as I could towards his head and watched with great amusement as he leapt out of bed and into a fighting stance all within one fluid motion.

"Wakey wakey." I stated only just barely keeping myself from bursting into laughter. This was a lot of fun and he could bet that if a situation like this ever arose again I would use this tactic again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I think he was far less amused than I was if the snarl on his face was anything to go by, I only grinned wider though. "Come on we don't have all day and we need to reach Waterfall country before the ringleader can get word of us taking his business down." I stated as I turned away and started to pack up my things.

"Maybe I had you pegged wrong. Perhaps you aren't so bad after all." I could feel his irritation slowly turn into amusement if the wide smirk (I didn't even have to turn to see, I could _hear _it) on his face was anything to go by. "You've still made some stupid decisions that have made me wonder how you've survived for this long." He continued and that was when I whirled on him, a displeased frown set firmly on my face.

"Oh _I've _made some questionable decisions? Well, what about that one time you threatened to kill that fish merchant in the middle of a busy street, for insinuating that you eating fish should be considered cannibalism." I retorted and just remembering the moment made me want to burst into hysterical laughter. The look on his face at the time had been _priceless_. His grin took a more sinister turn as he crossed his arms across that incredibly wide chest of his.

"And what about the time that you decided that transforming yourself into an old lady would be a good way to lure a bounty thug out of hiding?" he laughed harshly, "It's no wonder that Kakuzu got to so many of your targets before you did." Ohhhh, he was begging for it now. I could feel my anger start to bubble up inside me and I had to fist my hands to keep myself from launching myself at him.

"Well you thought it would be a good idea to kill everyone in Hidden Grass when we got there in order to minimize our presence there." I argued and his grin only widened at the thought of killing lots of people at a time.

"Nothing beats when you _let_ yourself be drugged _twice_ in one night and then do your best to bring every village guard down on us when you tried to remove it." He bit back and I felt my mouth open to launch a rebuttal only to realize that no he was right, when he said it like that it really did sound stupid.

"Alright fine I'll give you that one, which is why we're not taking that course of action for the next one for several reasons." He stared at me with a gaze that said he was listening but was still skeptical that whatever plan I'd come up with was inadequate. "One, that was a stupid plan, and to use it again would be just as ludicrous. Second, we're going to be in Waterfall Country where I'll be more easily recognized. Actually with that second reason alone we would need a new plan because chances are the people will recognize me before I can get anywhere near enough to get them to spill the beans." I explained and I watched as he regarded me with more respect than before but that still wasn't saying much because he wasn't impressed in the slightest.

"So what is the plan then?" he asked of me as he turned to get his cloak that until now I hadn't realized was missing from his figure.

"Well I was hoping you'd be able to help me with that since you're going to be the one doing most of the work. Like I said I can't really be seen so now it's your turn to take to the front lines, partner!" I stated enthusiastically and I saw him throw me a glare over his shoulder as he put Samehada on his back. I returned it with a cheery grin before walking towards the door.

"I'm going to go get some breakfast, I'll meet you outside!" I declared before exiting.

* * *

"Kisame, Tokoryu, **Leader has sent us to retrieve the Akatsuki's money.** Have you turned the bounty in yet?" I couldn't help but stare and be a little repulsed by the… thing before me that spoke in two different voices and had a venus fly trap-like growth around the top part of his body. He was also split directly down the middle into black and white halves, the right was black and the left was white. They also apparently had different personalities where the white was more calm and was able to make strategic decisions, the black was more blood thirsty and eager for violence.

"Yeah, we have it." Kisame stated while pulling out one of the many containment scrolls and handing it to the weird plant man halfway merged with the tree we were standing next to. I'd recognized his chakra signature immediately as the mysterious person who'd been following me the days before that bastard and Hidan approached me with the offer to join Akatsuki.

Zetsu took the scroll before turning his attention to me, "**Leader also wants a performance update on Tokoryu, Kisame.**" The black half stated and I felt my eyebrows lower just a fraction of a centimeter. An update huh? And from the Shark no less, there was no telling what that blue man would say about me. So I crossed my arms and settled my weight onto one leg while I watched and waited for Kisame to spill the beans about me to the plant freak.

"The only thing that you didn't tell me about her was how tall she was. The rest you know; nothing has changed." Was his enigmatic reply and I glanced back to Zetsu to see him glance briefly at me before back to the tall blue man beside me.

"I see, **we will report this to Leader. Continue your mission.**" The dual being stated before sinking back into the ground from whence he came and vanished leaving no trace he'd been there moments before.

"That's funny that the one thing you were surprised at was my height. Especially when it was the same thing that surprised me about you." I said with a smirk and watched as he returned my smirk and turned to resume our journey north towards my old country. "I think you're the first person I've met that's been taller than me and I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest. I'm so used to towering over everyone that I meet that the concept of looking up to someone is very strange." I saw his smirk widen into a full grin as he regarded me with his small eyes.

"Are you admitting to looking up to me, chibi-chan?" the walking piece of sushi snickered and I for the hundredth time since I'd met him, I felt a vein appear on my forehead.

"In a literal sense, yes because you are physically taller than I am." I replied before I pulled out the ridiculously large hat that Leader had supplied me with in the beginning and fit it on my head.

"What's with the hat all of a sudden? I thought you hated it?" Kisame inquired as we continued to walk onwards to our destination.

"We just entered Waterfall Country, I'm much more likely to be recognized here; so I thought it would be a good way to keep my identity safe while at the same time not making me stick out like a sore thumb. Plus I'm supposed to be by myself so travelling with you also provides good cover." I explained and immediately felt my guard rise to one hundred percent because the last time I'd been here I'd been on a mission to avenge my clan in the most brutal way possible.

* * *

**Omake- Team seven (AN: This hasn't happened in the story (yet), I just added it for fun.)**

I knelt down in front of the now dead target that I'd killed in order to turn him in for the very large bounty that was on his head. Kisame had continued to chase after the partner this guy had teamed up with while I took care of the sealing. Unrolling the scroll I bit my thumb and with a poof of smoke the corpse disappeared into the roll of parchment. After this was finished I detected an incoming chakra signature and at first I thought it would be Kisame on his way back, but then I realized it was too small to be my partner. A scream from the tree tops caught my attention right before an orange blur face planted and slid face first along the ground to stop right at my feet. I raised an eyebrow in amusement and had a brief moment to examine him before I felt the signature of three more people approaching, one of which was jounin level.

"Naruto!" called the leader of the group as he and the other two teammates appeared on the branches around me. I was surprised that it was the famous Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi that spoke. His silver hair stuck up on an angle over top of his crooked forehead protector that covered his left eye. The eye that was visible was black and widened in horrified recognition at my identity.

"You bastard! How come you had to go and trip me like that?!" came the scream from the clumsy orange kid below me and I redirected my gaze down to him smirking in great amusement.

"So this is the Nine Tails kid?" I asked rhetorically and then watched as this 'Naruto' finally realized I was standing there and slowly turned towards me. Except he was still on his knees so when he turned around all he could see was my cloak and then he had to look, up, up and up until he finally met my red gaze. I could see his eyes flicker briefly to the scratched forehead protector that was on my forehead.

"Naruto get away from her!" the jounin commanded and readied a weapon while I held my hands up.

"That's a _woman?!"_ came a screech from below me and I resisted the urge to kick the child beneath me. So I opted instead to ignore him.

"I'm not here to fight Hatake, although I think it's clear as to whom the winner would be if I was. You are at a distinct disadvantage with three weak kids to protect and I have a partner even more powerful than myself who is due to return at any moment." I stated as my gaze brushed over the other two genin that were present. One was a girl with pink hair and green eyes with a stance that was so terrible I bet a breeze could knock her over. The other however was a boy with black hair and eyes to match with a blue shirt and after a scan with my ability I discovered that he had one too, and it wasn't just any Kekkei Genkai he was an Uchiha. I locked gazes with him and grinned widely, "It seems you have quite the motley crew here, Hatake it kind of reminds me of my own old genin team."

"I suppose I should thank you for the compliment Ishiyama-san." He replied before I felt a flare of chakra that I recognized as a clone coming at me from the side. In the blink of an eye I reached down and grabbed the Nine Tails boy who was still sitting in front of me and pulled him out of the reach of the copy of Hatake Kakashi. With my momentum I carried through with a kick that connected and dispelled the clone.

"Hey let go of me, lady!" squawked the blonde haired boy in my grip as he tried his best to kick and claw his was out of my grasp. When I finally looked into his eyes I finally noticed the bright shade of cerulean that they were and I was so shocked for a moment that I was seeing my sister's face instead of his. Then the image faded and I was once again faced with the visage of the boy that I actually had in my hold.

"I admire your guts kid but you're staying right here until I'm ready to leave. You're my collateral to make sure that your teacher right over there doesn't try to attack me." I grinned, "Although his attempt to rescue you from my evil clutches was rather admirable and you should feel lucky he would try to do that for you. My old teacher would have killed me if I allowed myself to land in the position you are faced with right now." My words seemed to have a horrifying effect on him when I saw his face pale and his eyes widen to the size of saucers.

There was another flare of chakra from behind me but before I had a chance to turn and face the threat that was no doubt another one of Hatake Kakashi's clones it disappeared and was replaced with a much more familiar and welcome signature. "How is it that you always seem to attract trouble whenever I'm not around?" asked Kisame as he walked out of the trees that were at my back.

"Because then otherwise your life would be boring, don't you agree? You could think of me as your fun compass." I replied with amusement clear in my voice as Naruto turned to look at the scary visage of the male counter part of our duo. "Although now that you're here we can probably go now. So it was fun Kakashi, Naruto, and you two there but unfortunately we have to take our leave now." And with that I dropped the nine tails kid and then with as much speed as I could muster sprinted out of the clearing with Kisame hot on my heels.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed that little extra scene with Team Seven because I had a lot of fun writing it.**

**Please leave me a review if you liked it!**


	8. Waterfall Country: Bonding?

**Hey so this chapter has been a long time coming and I am sorry that my updates have slowed down drastically but that is because I am not writing this story as I update whereas before I had prewritten chapters that I could just upload whenever I wanted to update. So I'm sorry about that, but I haven't forgotten or given up on this story and I don't plan to anytime soon! I love it and my character too much.**

**Also I have included her backstory in this chapter and I know a few of you have been curious about it so I hope that I don't disappoint with it! I thought long and hard and confided with some friends for their ideas as well so it's as well rounded as I could make it but I hope it's still not too cheesy or cliche!**

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

That night I didn't want to chance staying in an inn where there was a chance that someone would recognize me; so instead, Kisame and I were forced to make camp outside in a secluded clearing that we'd found. As per our discussion earlier, he had been responsible for finding food and cooking it. In exchange I was in charge of skinning whatever it was he found as well as collecting firewood for the fire that we would use to cook what he caught. Considering this is Kisame though, it was likely that it would be some sort of fish. When he did finally return from wherever it was that he had gone, it wasn't fish he returned with, it was a couple of rabbits. I guess there weren't any fish worthy of catching in the nearby stream.

"Don't cut yourself." He grinned as he threw the rabbits at my feet for me to skin. I gave him an unimpressed glance which he laughed at before plunking his ass down on the ground on the other side of the fire that was now burning strong enough to light up our campsite and to cook out meal over. Taking out a kunai I go to work removing the fur and the organs of the two animals before putting them on a stick and handing them back to my partner to season and start roasting. Then I took care of the pile of innards that I'd put beside me, taking them over to the edge of our camp I dug a small hole and put them in it before covering it back up. The last thing we needed was a bear or some other predator getting a nice whiff of a free meal and coming to investigate while we slept. Of course once that was finished I then had to take care of my hands that were covered in blood. There was a small stream just beyond the clearing that we'd chosen so I headed there to clean my hands.

Once back at the campsite I sat down on my side of the fire and contented myself with watch the flames. Unfortunately my moment of peace only lasted a few moments when Kisame suddenly decided he wanted to be chatty.

"So when are you going to tell me who actually killed your clan?" he asked and I could feel my blood freeze in my veins. I glanced up at him to find him staring intently at me. There was a beat of silence before I managed to reboot my brain and regain my composure.

"Why do you want to know?" I countered and sat up a little straighter.

"Curiosity I guess?" was his reply and I saw the ghost of a smirk cross his face before it was once again schooled into blankness.

"You know what they say about curiosity, it killed the cat." He chuckled in response.

"Except I'm a shark, I eat cats for breakfast." I smirked at that mental image

"Is that why you really left? They kicked you out for eating cats?" I teased him not able to hold back the highly amused smile from overtaking my features. He grinned too, but it was bitter and full of cruelty.

"No, I killed every one of my comrades because they were weak and then I killed my master because he was a traitorous liar and selling Mist's secrets to other villages." He replied before redirecting his attention back to me, "Don't change the subject. Who killed your clan if it wasn't you?"

"Why should I tell you? What is it to you?" I had to stop myself from asking the next question that almost rolled off my tongue that was 'why do you care?' because this was Kisame, the Monster of the Hidden Mist. He didn't give a rat's ass about me; he's made that perfectly clear in the past. He shrugged his shoulders in one massive movement as he turned the rabbit over to make sure they were cooking evenly.

"There's no need to get so defensive chibi-chan. I was curious, so I asked and that's all there is to it." The blue man replied easily as he pulled the rabbit off the fire and after testing them to make sure they were cooked through he passed one to me. I took it with a mumbled 'thanks' before I dug in if only to have an excuse not to talk because my mouth was full.

Could that be true? Could he really only want to know for the sake of knowing? What could he possibly gain from knowing who killed my family? I thought hard for the next few minutes but came up with nothing. There was nothing in it for him, so I was at a complete loss as to why he wanted to know.

"I can't tell you who is responsible for my clan, not yet at least." I responded after a few minutes of eating and dared a glance up at the shark man to find him also looking back at me.

"Oh and why's that?"

"Because I don't trust you."

"And so you shouldn't chibi-chan." He grinned before he finished off his rabbit, "Though, what you may not know is that leaving our village is like a coming of age test for every rogue-nin and the story of how that happened is expected to be told and worn with pride. So by refusing to say what happened you're breaking that code, I've told you my reasons it's only fair that you share yours."

"Why… why do you want to know so badly?" I pleaded although I would never admit it, this conversation was opening a wound I'd done my best to close and never look at again. He leaned forward so the flames cast shadows above his nose and cheek bones creating a terrifying visage.

"Because I want to know how much of your reputation you really earned." Was his response and I finally understood. I was right; he didn't really care about what happened, he doubted that I truly deserved the rep that I had been branded with. Fury ignited in the oily sadness that had been seeping through my body and I felt fire in my veins.

"_Fine._" I hissed through gritted teeth, "Like I said. I didn't kill my clan. The _Taki leader _did. Or at the very least he _ordered it_. I'm not sure if the bastard had the guts to do it himself, I didn't ask him before I split his stomach open and ripped out his entrails before taking a page out of Kakuzu's book and crushing his beating heart in my hand." I seethed and I was sure I saw a glint of pride in Kisame's eyes before it was replaced with a blood thirsty gleam.

"So what did your clan do to deserve such a punishment and how did _you_ escape this sentence?" he questioned me and I answered,

"Nothing. He thought that they'd been the ones responsible for breaking me out of prison the night before when it had actually been my old genin team and a trusted ANBU friend." He grinned widely in amusement obviously enjoying my story.

"So what did you do to deserve time?" he grinned wickedly.

"There was a political dignitary visiting at the time and the day before the massacre. While I was on duty as an ANBU I found one of my clan members murdered in a back alley. Shortly after that I found evidence that it had been the dignitary that had done it, so I took the matter to the Taki leader expecting something to be done." My hands were fisted so tightly in my lap I could feel blood start to leak from my palms, "That evening I was brought up on murder charges and sentenced to death the next morning." I was shaking by now with barely retrained wrath, "Like I said previously, I got out and escaped the village that night only taking a few precious possessions with me. It wasn't until a couple months after my defection did I hear of my clan's demise supposedly by my own hand. Not only was I was convicted of killing one member but that piece of shit pinned the mass murder of my clan on me too."

I swallowed hard at having to relive these memories but I was sticking this through now that he'd gotten me going he was going to hear the whole thing, "So I snuck back in the village to find out the truth and once I did I took a kunai and cut my hair on the vow that I would avenge my clan since I could no longer save them. I spent a few years training and improving my skill until I was sure I'd be able to succeed no matter what I faced. Then I returned and killed any ANBU that got in my way, which happened to be almost all of them and then took out the Leader." I gave him the most loathing glare I could manage, "Happy now?" I demanded as I slowly uncurled my hands from their fisted positions wincing slightly when I pulled the dried blood away from the wounds and they started bleeding again.

There was silence for a good few minutes as I searched for some bandages to wrap around my hands that now had four crescent shaped marks on each palm.

"That's quite the story you have there, I have to say I'm impressed chibi-chan. Though I can't say I relate to your rage because I never had any family to be attached to in the first place." He declared as he leaned back on his hands. I fixed him with a determined stare.

"You made me spill the beans about my past so it's your turn now sharky. Why did you grow up with no family?" I quizzed him and I heard a chuckle from the opposite side of the fire.

"My parents abandoned me at the gates of Mist because that was where the ANBU found me before taking me to the Mizukage. After that I was raised as a ward of the state and when I showed talent in ninjutsu, they put me in the academy." He stated in a very business-like manner as if it meant nothing to him but I knew that couldn't be true at some point he must have wished for a family of some form. Then he turned back to me with a shit eating grin on his face, "You're welcome by the way." And I blinked in confusion.

"For what?"

"For the free therapy session. I'll bet you feel much better now that you've been able to get out some of that rage you have repressed deep down inside." He declared boldly before stretching out on his back, "You're on first watch by the way." Was the last thing I heard from him before he promptly fell asleep.

I felt anger bubble in my stomach but just as quickly as it came it simmered out into a sense of peace that I hadn't felt in years. As much as I hated to admit it, even to myself, he was right. I did feel better. I felt a weight lift from my chest after talking about what had happened to my clan to someone who wouldn't immediately label me as a murderer and a psychopath felt good. I leaned back against a tree and after letting out a large sigh I felt a small smile work its way across my lips.

* * *

The next morning I was abruptly awoken from my slumber due to the projectile on its way to my face. Without opening my eyes I caught it centimeters from my face before I threw it back in the direction of the shark that was responsible for it in the first place. There was a snigger before there was another kunai making a beeline for my face. I caught that one as well before I opened my eyes to glare at the tall shark who was grinning with so much amusement I thought his face would burst if that grin got any wider.

"Fuck off Kisame and take your kunai with you." I grumbled as I stuck the kunai in the ground beside me instead of returning it to him as I knew he would only throw it at me again. Then I rolled over so my back was to him and tried to fall back to sleep, that plan didn't last long however when I felt a large hand wrap around my ankle. My eyes shot open the minute I felt myself dragged on the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I squawked in a completely undignified manner as I tried to right myself. Considering my brain was effectively scrambled due to being woken up suddenly and the fact that Kisame was daring to do what he was, I'd say those were pretty good reasons why I wasn't immediately able to free myself.

"We need to move out and you're holding us up. If you refuse to walk, I'll drag you to where we need to go." He replied and I chose that moment to kick his hand off my leg and jump to my feet in the next moment. "I would offer to cut off your legs to make you lighter, but then I'd have to carry you and you'd be useless." I sent him an irritated glare and I did my best to get all the gravel and dirt out of my clothes. The damn shark only watched with the greatest amusement as I stuck my hands down the back of my shirt to dislodge all the rocks and other such undesirables. Then I looked for my hat only to find it wasn't on my person…

…it was on Kisame.

"I don't know if you remember or not but I need that." I stated holding out my hand for the tasseled hat he held in his hand. He lifted it up a bit as if to remind himself that he was indeed holding it.

"Oh, this? Sure." The shark held it out to me but as I reached for it, he hoisted it a little higher in the air, just out of my reach. Another attempt to grab it was met with the same result of him lifting it just out of my reach. I raised an eyebrow at his childish antics and he returned it with a cheeky grin. "What's the matter chibi-chan, are you going to take it or what?" he taunted me and in in trying to surprise him I swiped at his hand as fast as I could. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough and he once again succeeded in keeping it away from me and hoisted it as high in the air as he could reach.

"Wow I have to admit, no one's pulled this trick on me since my early academy days, which reminds me Kisame, how old are you again?" I asked rhetorically as I crossed my arms over my chest and have him my most unimpressed look I could muster. I couldn't completely hide my amusement at the matter though so a hint of a smirk managed to break through my glare.

"I'm twenty-seven; I don't see what that has to do with anything though." He grinned and continued to hold the hat high above his head. I raised an eyebrow before I strode past him, only looking back over my shoulder to call,

"Now who's holding us up? If you won't give my hat back then we're probably going to be attacked much more often." I warned him and continued to walk. A few seconds later he caught up to me and fell in step on my right.

"I'm counting on it." Was his sadistic response.

* * *

**Kisame's an ass. But he's so much fun to write lol!**

**Please drop me a review if you liked it!**


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